


Reticulating in Harmony

by ArturoSavinni



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-10 06:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 40,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4381286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArturoSavinni/pseuds/ArturoSavinni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You learn a lot during your first year of university. Most of it doesn't occur in class.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stumbling into First

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, hi, welcome to my very first long fic. I began writing on Iwaizumi's birthday last month, and it was my intention to finish on Oikawa's. While I have completed the first draft, the entirety of the fic is not yet ready to shared. So, for our grand king's birthday, I shall instead present the first part of the fic.

Wind whistled past the pale blue curtains that framed the window of a teenaged boy’s room as he moved around the floor on all fours, digging things out of his closet. Hajime, the teen, sat up and heaved out a heavy breath before he wiped at his brow with the back of his hand. The spring air that snuck its way inside made him wrinkle his nose; budding cherry blossom trees lining his neighbourhood offered a faint scent. It had never been a favourite smell of his despite the supposed beauty of the blossoms; he had honestly found the fragrance to be a tad cloying for his tastes.

Hajime got up to retrieve a new box while at the same time pushing the one he had next to him out of the way. He delved back into the depths of his closet, which was actually not all that expansive, despite what all the clutter within might have said otherwise.

Once he began to shove things unceremoniously into the box, he had lost himself to the task for nearly half an hour before something caught his eye and halted his progress. His brows furrowed as he leaned back out of his closet, his hand clutched around a wrinkled photograph that had seen better days. A smile threatened to tug at his lips as he recalled the story his mother had told him about the photo.

_“Hey Mom, why have you got this picture of two babies just staring at each other?” A young Hajime had asked as he sprawled himself over his mother’s lap, holding said picture in his small hand._

_His mom took the photo and looked at it properly, a fond smile spreading across her rose coloured lips. She chuckled and grabbed her son’s nose and made the boy shake his head. “This was your first meeting with Tooru-kun.”_

_“Eh?! Really?” Hajime’s attention had piqued even further at this information. “We met as babies?” He asked, his eyes wide and his tone unable to hide his incredulity._

_“Yes, you did,” she said and continued to explain the photo with a little more detail, “Tooru-kun’s mother had come over for a playdate of sorts. We had thought that since you were both able to sit up for more than ten seconds at a time that it was time for you two to meet.” His mother ran her hand over his scalp, his nearly black hair threaded easily through her thin fingers. “However, as you can see nothing particularly exciting happened once we placed you in front of each other. You both just stared at one another.”_

_“What? For the whole time? How boring,” the young boy had exclaimed._

_His mother had hummed in agreement. “Yes, we thought perhaps you were too young after all or perhaps you just didn’t connect with one another but,” she smiled, twirling a lock of her son’s hair around her index finger, “when Tooru-kun’s mom and I went to pick you up, you both instantly began to cry. Apparently you two had made some sort of connection after all!” She finished with a short laugh._

_Hajime had blinked at his mother as though he was searching for a lie before he took the picture from her hand. “So... we didn’t want you to pick us up from our spots just so we could keep staring at each other?” He wrinkled his nose, his expression full of pure scepticism as he shifted his gaze from his mother to the photo and back again._

_“That’s right.”_

The light tinkle of his mother’s laughter still rang in his conscience as Hajime came back to the present. He jumped to his feet in one swift motion to place the photograph in a smaller box of other miscellaneous items that he intended to bring with him to his new apartment that he had leased for his first year of university. His new apartment that he would be sharing with the other boy found in the picture, his best friend and royal pain in the ass, Oikawa Tooru.

As if on cue Oikawa’s voice had trailed down the hall, a low murmur to signal his cursory greeting to Hajime’s mom before a beat or two more and the bedroom door was swung wide open by a well put together young man with fluffy chestnut hair (locks habitually curling outwards at the ends). “Ya-hoo~!”

With a patented scowl Hajime threw a balled up piece of paper at an overly chipper Oikawa who easily caught it and stuck out his tongue before he flopped rather gracelessly onto the bed, mindful at least of the boxes that had rested upon it.

“What are you doing here?”

“Is that any way to speak to your future roommate Iwa-chan?” Oikawa asked as he turned onto his side, a playful smirk having settled over his features. When Hajime did not reply he huffed out an exaggerated breath of air, “I just wanted a break from all the packing! Surely even Iwa-chan needs a break too?” He turned his large doleful eyes upon Hajime; his expression implored the other.

Hajime ran a hand through his hair before he gave a half hearted shrug and looked out of his window before he turned back to Oikawa. “Well, what did you have in mind?”

“Hm, well, I thought we could go to the nearest park, perhaps toss around a volleyball y’know. Gotta keep in shape and all that... er, you haven’t packed them all up have you?” He asked and scrunched up his nose as he looked around at all the boxes that littered the room.

“Nah,” Hajime responded and jumped to his feet before he retrieved a ball from an unsealed box. “Anyway, sounds good,” he said as he tossed the ball to Oikawa while he pulled on a light jacket from his nearly empty closet.

The pair had then set off, their pace leisurely as they headed towards the nearest park. Conversation was light between the two friends which had led into a playful bantering causing their strides to pick up, moving faster, faster, and faster still, until it was a full on race. Laughter bubbled past Oikawa’s lips as he looked back towards Hajime, his expression familiar and full of taunt, daring the other teen to catch him.

It had been a dare that was easily accepted. Hajime barrelled towards Oikawa who had screeched shrilly as he hopped smoothly over the fence and into the lush green grass of their chosen park. His landing had lessened his lead however, and he only made it a few paces away before he had been crashed into. Suddenly they were a pair of tangled limbs on the ground. “Iwa-chan! Stop! There’s going to be grass everywhere!”

That had done little to deter Hajime who had simply responded by grabbing a fistful of grass which he used to smother Oikawa’s hair with, making a proper mess of it. “Now it’s everywhere,” he said, his grin wide as he hauled himself off of his friend and laughed to himself as he stretched to reach for the ball that had rolled away during their scuffle.

Petulant, Oikawa tugged the small crumpled blades out of his hair and whined, “So mean, Iwa-chan.”

“Yeah, yeah...” Hajime stood and passed the ball to Oikawa who wrinkled his nose but caught it all the same.

Not even a second had passed before Oikawa tossed the ball, sent it into an artful arc into the air which had caused Hajime to take off. He had leapt and greeted the ball with the palm of his hand before he struck it soundly into the ground.

They continued like that with barely any words exchanged between them. Instead it was Oikawa’s long fingers that set the ball and Hajime’s jumps into the air that had done all the speaking. A quick glance or a finger pointed had been all that would be shared between them, then just as quickly understanding had followed. This had led to a rather long toss to a body that was already suspended high in the air, a hand outstretched and waiting to connect with the ball before a familiar slap against skin had shuttered throughout the park.

At the sight, Oikawa had smiled, his expression suggested that he had remembered something that made him warm and fond.

_Tooru had hit the ball above his head and he attempted to spike his week old volleyball, missing again for the umpteenth time. His frustration grew as he stomped toward his ball before Iwaizumi had came bounding out of the bushes and nearly collided into him. “Eh! Iwa-chan, watch where you’re going!” He cried out and stuck his tongue out like the child he had been (and still is). Really, why had he chosen the same park as him?_

_Iwa-chan had ignored him and pushed past, apparently too intent on capturing his prey. Tooru had watched the other child for a moment before he returned to his own activity. Another toss into the air, though this time he had attempted to receive the ball. However, instead of hitting his arms the ball had landed squarely on his face. A burst of laughter escaped from the other young boy who had paused from his hunt and had witnessed the whole affair._

_“It’s not funny,” Tooru said and stomped his foot to emphasize this point, though his protest was weakened due to him rubbing at his nose. “Well, I’d like to see you try.” He goaded instead, issuing out a challenge he knew the other boy was likely to take. Iwaizumi had always done well in the athletic department. In fact, he had often rivalled Tooru himself, though naturally Tooru was far superior. Well except for arm wrestling but who really cared about that? That event was for cavemen anyway._

_The bug catching net was thrown to the ground and Iwaizumi had turned to face Tooru. “Well, pass it here then.”_

_Tooru huffed haughtily before he sent the ball flying over to the other boy who had leapt into the air, his legs having curled behind him, his back arched and his right arm had stretched over his head, hand ready to come smashing down. However just as Tooru had done before him, Iwaizumi had hit nothing but air and the ball landed lamely by his feet as they hit the ground._

_Iwaizumi scowled and looked to be on the verge of defending himself, his mouth opened in response but it quickly closed as he instead eyed Tooru suspiciously. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”_

_“Let’s try that again, Iwa-chan,” Tooru replied, his voice filled with errant glee. “Come on,” he said as he grabbed the ball out of the other boy’s hands, “until you hit it!”_

_Iwaizumi had been given no time to reply as the ball was once more tossed into the air and he simply moved on instinct, having jumped to knock it back down. The result had been very much the same as the one before, but on Tooru’s insistence they had kept at it._

_Tooru hadn’t been aware at the time why he had been so keen on wanting the other boy to hit the ball he tossed to him, for at that time he had been aiming to be a wing spiker and not a setter. Not to mention he hadn’t really considered Iwaizumi to be a friend. They had simply lived in the same neighbourhood and went to the same elementary school. Still, he hadn’t let up. Not even once._

_In fact, the sun had nearly set by the time Tooru had gotten the toss just right and Iwa-chan’s palm had finally connected perfectly to the ball. It spiralled into the ground and when Iwaizumi landed, the pair had turned to stare at each other wide-eyed and mouths slackened. Then as their success had processed fully, jubilant laughter followed suit. They ran towards one another and they descended into rambles about how awesome their success had felt, how cool it had looked, and most importantly how they definitely had to do that again._

_That had been the moment when friendship had properly bloomed between them. It was true that their parents had often tried to get them to play with each other due to them being the same age and being neighbours, but the two boys had often times had vastly different views, and would instead clash. Finally they had found common ground on which they could build a bridge._

“Hey, we should practice something else now,” Hajime said after an hour of spiking down steadily more difficult tosses.

“Ah, true enough,” Oikawa replied, “serves or receives?”

~0~

Hajime back at home from the park had taped up the last of the boxes for the day. He finally allowed himself to collapse onto his bed sometime after midnight. He exchanged a few texts with Oikawa before he slipped into a peaceful slumber.

When he awakened the next day, it was to the chirping of the birds that flittered about the neighbourhood, ensuring that there was no place left silent. With an annoyed groan he heaved himself out of bed and trudged out of his room to wash up at little.

After he made breakfast for himself, Hajime lounged around, watching television for a short while until he received a message from Oikawa. It seemed that he had finished all of his packing and was looking to gloat. However as Hajime had nearly been done himself, and really only had the clothes he needed for the remainder of his last few days in Miyagi to pack away, which he had planned to pack away the night before his departure, it was a bit fruitless.

So, with a bit of free time to spare, they had decided to meet up with their friends and former teammates, Matsukawa and Hanamaki, their fellow graduates.

Hajime set off to pick up Oikawa from his house so that they could catch the bus together. When he arrived to the Oikawa home, he knocked twice and then waited on the porch. Once Oikawa was ready they began their trek to the bus stop.

After a short bus ride they had met up with their friends at one of their favourite restaurants. Oikawa and Hanamaki in particular loved it as the dessert selection was, according to them, extraordinary. Matsukawa and Hajime really did not have a strong opinion on that matter but had enjoyed the rest of the menu all the same.

Oikawa and Hajime had arrived to the restaurant first. They decided on taking a seat at a table near the center of the restaurant for easier visibility of the entrance and ordered drinks while they waited for the other pair to arrive. It hadn’t taken long at all and soon they were joined by their friends. They had slipped easily into the booth across, exchanging pleasantries before someone had come to take the group’s order.

~0~

Later when they all finished their meal, Tooru having stolen the remnants of Iwaizumi’s dessert, watched along with Mattsun as their former ace had one final arm wrestling match with Makki. Mattsun clapped a hand over Makki’s back and muttered words of encouragement. Tooru chuckled and took another bite of his stolen treat, getting cream on the corner of his mouth in the process. This had garnered him a glare from Iwa-chan but he was rather nonplussed by it and simply winked playfully in return, before he stuck out his tongue.

He was greatly amused by how seriously Hanamaki always took these silly competitions. He couldn’t really say how serious his best friend was about the whole affair but considering Iwaizumi did have a rather healthy competitive streak, he was positive it would at the very least be a shot to the young man’s pride if he had actually lost.

As he watched the sweat slowly bead over Makki’s forehead for a moment, nibbling some more at Iwaizumi’s dessert, his gaze had shifted back over to the teen seated beside him. The sight made his mouth go dry and he greatly regretted having finished his drink. Instead he was left to lick his lips unconsciously and was thrown rather unceremoniously into a flashback of the arm wrestling duo’s first ever match.

_Tooru had been chatting amicably with some of his female schoolmates who had come up to view his class’ booth at Seijou’s cultural festival. His shift was nearly over and he would soon be able to walk around._

_“We can show you some of the best booths and events that are worth checking out, Oikawa-san,” A cute girl said, dressed in a bright green yukata, her hair curled and in a ponytail. When the other girls all nodded in agreement, Tooru could not find it in himself to decline their invitation. So when his class representative had set him free from duty he had set off, corralled by this gaggle of girls._

_They had brought him to one of the third year class’ set-up. It seemed that they had chosen to hold a cafe of sorts. While it had been very well done and their desserts were certainly very scrumptious, he had really only wanted to visit a booth from his own year, specifically for class five, which was Iwa-chan’s class. Unfortunately, he had been led to several other destinations before he’d finally reach his friend’s booth._

_When he and the group of girls arrived it was to a crowd surrounding Iwaizumi's booth. Tooru had to push his way through and mutter his apologies before he had been able to reach the front. Apparently Iwaizumi’s class had set up an event where you could challenge whoever was currently manning the booth to any competition you chose. Perhaps it had been sheer luck but whatever it had been, Tooru was grateful that he hadn’t missed out on Iwa-chan’s turn to run the booth._

_Although Iwaizumi was already in the midst of partaking in a challenge, Iwa-chan’s partner had called for the challenger to get ready. Tooru watched as they were both handed a baseball. It was a simple contest of who could throw the ball the farthest. He had smiled smugly as Iwaizumi easily eclipsed the other’s distance. Before he could issue out congratulations however, his friend was already being challenged again._

_This time Tooru had known the challenger. He was a member of the volleyball club, thus a member of his team. He was also a fellow first year by the name of Hanamaki, or as Tooru had come to call him ‘Makki’. Interested, he cut through to the very front to join Iwa-chan’s side. “What’s this? Should teammates be competing against each other?”_

_Makki had simply smirked and placed an elbow on the table that had been provided for his challenge. “Arm wrestling?” Tooru wrinkled his nose in distaste. “You couldn’t think of something more original?” For his comment he received a slap to the back of his head from Iwa-chan. “What?! I’m just saying... he could have challenged you to anything!”_

_At that, Matsukawa, another first year teammate had stepped out of the crowd and spoke, “Well, it’s more that Hanamaki heard that Iwaizumi is an arm wrestling champion, much like himself, y’see.”_

_“Oooh, so this is proper competition of pride? That makes this far more interesting. Don’t get too angry if you lose Iwa-chan,” Tooru said, his tone light as he dodged out of his friend’s way before their attention had been brought back to getting the event under way._

_It was then that Iwaizumi had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt before he placed his own elbow firmly on the table across from Hanamaki. “Always so serious, Iwa-chan,” Tooru laughed, though he was ignored much to his chagrin. Once the pair’s hands were clasped together, Iwaizumi’s partner counted down and signalled for when they could start._

_The beginning of the match had been rather run of the mill and Tooru had nearly considered sabotaging Iwa-chan before he had begun scrutinizing his form more thoroughly. His gaze had started at Iwaizumi’s clasped hand before it travelled up along his tan forearm, stopping for a period of time on the tensed bicep, which for some odd reason had made his throat constrict. He had to shake his head and chase away the pleasant fog that had settled over him by the time he had taken in Iwa-chan’s concentrated expression._

_That was it. The sight where Tooru had been hit, like he had just received Ushiwaka’s spike directly with his chest, with the epiphany that his very best friend in the world was handsome. No, it was more than that. Rather than just accepting that Iwa-chan was aesthetically pleasing in general, it was more that he himself was attracted to him. A lump had formed in his throat as he sucked in a breath of air, nearly choking from it, his eyes firmly trained on the way Iwaizumi’s eyebrows furrowed and the clench of his jaw that had made his cheekbone shift, served as another stark reminded that Iwa-chan was in the process of becoming a man. Apparently a man that Tooru wanted to do things with, such as maybe kiss along that killer jawline, or maybe just nibble on that bottom lip of his._

_Despite the fact that such thoughts were traitorous, he was unable to dispel them away. In fact, even when Iwaizumi had turned to look at him, Tooru had been unable to do anything more but blink dumbly at him, not even able to give a wobbly smile of support. Thankfully it seemed as though he didn’t need to as his childhood friend had given him a smirk, and quite frankly, Tooru swore that he had witnessed a glint in his eye before he slammed Makki’s hand into the table with a resounding thump. Of course, that smirk from Iwa-chan had forced Tooru to swallow the lump in his throat and he had been struck with the realisation that he was most assuredly doomed._

Tooru’s gaze was still lingering on Iwaizumi's face as his mouth curved upward into a victorious grin when he had snapped out of his reverie. “Ah, tough luck Makki,” he managed to say, though his voice sounded a bit strained and Mattsun raised his eyebrows at him as though he knew something.

“Agh, I can’t believe I haven’t beat you! Not even once,” Hanamaki lamented and flopped back into the plush cushion of the booth. “You are obviously some sort of robot.”

Iwaizumi’s laughter garnered Tooru’s attention back onto him and the sight of his dearest friend in such a mood of happiness tugged at his heartstrings while simultaneously clawed at the anxiety in the pit of his stomach. How well was he going to fair in holding himself together when he was about to live alone with Iwa-chan for the next few years?

~0~

The next couple of days that remained for Hajime and Oikawa in their hometown passed by in a haze. All of their boxes had been sent ahead with the moving truck. Their parents had split the bill so that the apartment would be ready once the pair had arrived.

On the day of their departure they were dropped off at the train station in Sendai, with only a backpack each. It had been a bit of a long affair to bid their families goodbye. There had been a few pairs of damp eyes before the two teens had managed to step onto the train properly. One final wave was all that was given before they had set off to find their seats within the carriage.

Oikawa insisted on sitting at the window seat and Hajime had held no will to argue otherwise, so he had simply let him have it. Their journey had taken them just under six hours, thankfully there had been no delays.

It was on the third hour that Hajime rifled through his backpack for something to eat. Oikawa had taken to reading a book and occasionally regaled him with its content, despite Hajime’s insistence that it wasn’t necessary. Before Hajime had been able to take a bite out of his inarizushi, his charismatic friend gestured with his hand and knocked into one of Hajime’s that had held his snack, which forced it to tumble. Thankfully it landed safely on his lap, otherwise Hajime would have been pissed and perhaps would have felt the inclination to shout. Instead he just scowled and grumbled mostly to himself.

He was given a sheepish look from Oikawa before he motioned for him to continue as he had decided that it was best to simply let Oikawa speak. Eventually, after he eyed Hajime eating more items out of his packed lunch, Oikawa did the same.

After a while of eating companionably, Oikawa traded one of his dango sticks for some (all) of Hajime’s kenpi. Another hour had passed and instead of resting his head on the window of the train, Oikawa used his shoulder. Pleasantly full and perhaps he was a little sleepy himself, Hajime said nothing about this occurrence. In fact he simply rested his own head atop of Oikawa’s and dozed off himself, the scent of coconut and lime eased him into a peaceful slumber.

The rest of the train ride seemed to pass by in a breeze; before he knew it, they had arrived in Tsukuba. It had been a short walk to their apartment from the station. They had both taken turns pointing things out during their journey and made notes of where they’d like to visit while they lived there. Naturally Tooru had pointed out to a giant rocket, which had sat outside the space center.

When they reached the apartment building, it turned into a race for who got to unlock the door first. While Hajime was usually faster in terms of sprinting, Oikawa was not above cheating, so he had triumphantly opened the door to their apartment, a smug grin plastered over his face. As they stepped over the threshold and closed the door with one final click, there had been a moment of silence while they took in their new home.

“So, this is really happening...” Oikawa said, his voice so very quiet, as though he hadn’t wanted to ruin the atmosphere.

“Yeah, guess it is,” Hajime replied, sparing a moment to glance at Oikawa who had looked so entranced that it made his heart clench before a familiar flutter spurred in his stomach. He coughed and attempted to brush it away before he stepped past Oikawa, heading toward the bedrooms.

“Hey, Iwa-chan wait,” Oikawa whined as he followed frantically after Hajime. The first room turned out to be Oikawa’s. It looked a lot like how his room in Miyagi had though it was a fair bit sparser and smaller. It had been the same for Hajime’s room.

They had spent about an hour just fixing minor things around the place, to better suit their liking. Such as Tooru placing different magnets onto their fridge that he had pulled out from his backpack. Hajime had packed up their spare cushions and placed them in the closet nearest the bathroom. They only had need for two at the moment. Eventually Hajime suggested that they go out to get something to eat, which Oikawa had easily agreed to. A block away from their apartment they managed to find a ramen shop and chose to eat there. When they finished, Oikawa insisted that they spend the rest of the evening figuring out the best route to their university. Since he didn’t find it to be a bad plan, Hajime had went along with it and allowed himself to be dragged by the arm.

When they got back to their apartment, night time had completely fallen. With them having walked around the city, and just the long day of travelling in general, both of them were suitably tired. They decided to head to bed early. However just as Hajime had been falling into an easy slumber, he heard the sound of shuffling at the edge of his door. He could make out a tall silhouette that glanced around while it fidgeted before finally Hajime sighed. “Fine, but only tonight.”

In took only an instant; Oikawa was in Hajime’s bed, curling himself around Hajime's, despite the protest that that hadn’t been part of the agreement. “Please, Iwa-chan?”

“Ugh, annoying,” Hajime grunted but stopped trying to push Oikawa off.

Eventually Hajime had truly fallen asleep, the warm puffs of air against his neck no longer tickled him or sent an odd tingle down the length of his arm.

_His sleep hadn’t lasted long. There were fingers sneaking their way under his shirt. They flittered across his skin. Each touch seemed to leave a scorching mark in its wake. Hajime stopped breathing and went still. “Oikawa,” he said, his voice strained despite his effort to make it otherwise, “what are you doing?”_

_He hadn’t received a verbal answer. Instead there had been kisses pressed along his neck, then his shoulder.The hands against his torso were no longer experimental and shy; now they kneaded into him, raked up and down his sides with purpose._

_Before he could utter out another word or question, Oikawa’s mouth was at his ear. “Hajime,” he said, his voice so very low, almost gruff that it simmered against him and made Hajime swallow. The kisses at the beginning had been chaste and closed mouth, but had changed into wet, longer ones that Hajime found himself turning around to face Oikawa. There was a small smile on Oikawa’s lips and a sharp sense of purpose in what he could make out from his eyes._

_Hesitantly Hajime reached out with one of his hands to brush along one of Oikawa’s cheekbones. His hand was nestled into before it was pushed away and whatever space had been remaining between them was lost as Oikawa pressed their lips together._

_It had only taken a matter of minutes, the languid testing of waters so to speak, before hesitation was thrown to the wind. Their pace hastened into one of fervent rapture. Their limbs tangled together so much that it became an effort to dispel their clothes from their bodies. Persistence and desperate longing allowed them to push through without too much awkwardness._

_As their skin coated with perspiration, the echoes of salacious whines, aborted choked off moans and the utterance of names called out, tinged in euphoria, reverberated above the bed. Their bodies thrashed together, forcing muscles to spasm and backs to arch in ways Hajime had never known was possible. Urgency quickly swelled through the both of them and they reached that moment of monstrous exhalation together._

_Heavy breaths passed between them and as he slowly came down from his high, Hajime was certain that Oikawa had left his mark in more than just one place. When they managed to catch one another’s gaze once more, he found that he didn’t really mind. How could he when he had been looked at with such intensity. Besides, Hajime was sure that he had returned the favour in kind._

Still, he startled when Oikawa’s fingers had pressed against his side again. Wait... it wasn’t again. Slowly Hajime blinked, his brows furrowing as he frowned in confusion. The sun had only just begun to break into the sky from which he had been able to tell from the small crack in his curtains. He glanced back to find that Oikawa was still asleep and that they were both very much still fully clothed.

Unsure of whether he was disappointed with this outcome or not, Hajime instead chose to pry Oikawa’s fingers and arms away from his body before he slid out of bed to head for the bath.

He definitely would not let Oikawa sleep in his bed again.

~0~

The next few days passed with the pair getting to know their new city better. They had even taken a train to Tokyo and explored the much more densely packed metropolis for a day. Slowly, the feeling of being settled in bubbled through them which made their first day of university one they were looking forward to, rather than simply being completely nervous about it.

Hajime had easily found his rhythm with his new schedule, having successfully balanced classes, homework and volleyball practice thus far. He and Oikawa had meshed fairly well with the Tsukuba team too. Oikawa had mostly the same classes, though there were some deviations in regards to their chosen electives. It was on Thursdays that they were unable to sync up as they usually would. Thankfully Hajime had made a new friend by the name of Ishida Katsumi, who was in his fitness class, though unlike him she was a fourth year.

So when Hajime managed to eat his lunch on Thursdays, it was usually with Katsumi’s company. It turned out that they shared a lot of similar interests and often times ended up chatting away about them as they munched on their food.

“Well Iwaizumi, it has been a little over a month for you, no? How would you say you’re faring so far?” Katsumi asked before she took a drink of her tea.

Hajime blinked and paused from biting into his kappa maki. “Oh, it’s been going okay,” he murmured before he returned to his lunch. When he received a raised eyebrow for his short answer he rubbed the back of his neck unconsciously. “Er, I mean... classes have been fine and all, and the team has been really great so far.”

Katsumi hummed; her hazel eyes surveyed Hajime from across the table. She tilted her head, then a small smirk spread across her cherry tinted lips. “I’ve been meaning to ask, but did you leave a girl back in Miyagi?”

“W-what? Oh, um no,” Hajime shook his head as confusion slipped onto his features.

“Really? So you’re free to date here? Well, that’s probably a smart choice. I suppose girls must be clamouring to get your attention, ne?”

“Eh? Haha, no. No, definitely not,” Hajime replied and wrinkled his nose. The image was far too foreign for him to grasp and quite honestly made something twist uncomfortably in his stomach.

At that Katsumi’s eyes widened, shock written clear across her face. “That can’t be. Are you sure you just aren’t picking up their signals?” She asked and leaned across the table. “I mean, a hardworking, athletic young guy like you is just the sort to be popular with girls,” She mused.

This time Hajime barked out a laugh, unable to contain it. “Afraid not, actually. I’ve never been all that popular with girls. That’s more Oikawa’s territory.”

“Oikawa? That’s your roommate right? He’s also on the volleyball team, isn’t he?” When Hajime nodded his ascent, she continued, “So, this ah, friend of yours, he’s been swallowing all the attention from girls for how long then?”

Hajime pondered over the query for a moment and then hummed, “Well, started in middle school I guess but he really began to get serious fans in high school. Since we’re often together, it’s kinda natural that he’d get all the attention. I mean, he even managed to get fangirls from the other schools in the prefecture.” Hajime scrunched up his nose as he bit into a piece of his lunch. “Honestly it was a bit annoying since they’d often try to get his attention before a match or practice, which made him late a lot of the time.”

It seemed as though the information wasn’t properly sinking in for Katsumi. Instead she leaned back, reconsidered her approach and then asked a different question. “Have you ever had a girlfriend then?”

At that Hajime had nearly choked on his drink. His eyes darkened and his lips thinned before he set his thermos back on the table. “Ah...”

_There had been a girl in Hajime’s past. Her name was Sawada Rumiko. She had come waltzing into his life during his second year of high school, right when he had reached the point of acceptance for having feelings for Oikawa that were not entirely platonic in nature. While the discovery of those feelings were not new, he had stumbled upon that realisation two years prior but had adamantly denied their existence up until that point. So, Rumiko, while she hauled him back into the spiral of confusion once more, had also been something of a relief._

_She was the first girl he had real interest in. He had always been able to think a girl was cute or pretty but they had never really spurred anything within him. Not until Rumiko, with her mid-length dark brown hair often tied up into a ponytail, with frail curls that framed her face, her tiny nose with a faint sprinkle of freckles dusted across it and the smell of peach blossoms that often wafted in her wake, called out to him in a way that no other girl had before her._

_Rumiko had been in his class for that year. He hadn’t taken complete notice of her until a couple of months into the first term. His attention had been nabbed when she had been asked by their teacher to hand out an assignment. Her signature fragrance approached first, which made Hajime lift his head just as her thin fingered hand placed the worksheet on his desk. She gave him a warm smile before she continued on to the next desk and he was left blinking dumbly into the space she had vacated._

_After that things were rather gradual. Nothing more than a head nod here or there until finally silence had been broken between them. Eventually they managed to strike up a conversation that lasted for more than a minute when the topic of Godzilla brokered them together._

_Later, when Oikawa would be too busy during lunch or Hajime simply was not in the mood to deal with his chittering fans, he would eat with Rumiko. Their relationship bloomed, brushing them easily into the end of summer. She had even began to come to the volleyball team’s matches and cheered on Aoba Johsai with the rest of the crowd when she was able to._

_Autumn had dropped down upon Hajime like a lead cloud however. It was then that Oikawa had seeped into their conversations and it had not been him who dropped the other’s name. Rumiko had taken to asking questions about his longtime friend and teammate._

_It had been a bitter pill to swallow as he realised that Rumiko had fallen for the rising volleyball star much like many had before her. He didn’t have any right to blame her since he himself was technically in the same boat. So instead of being spiteful or petty, he simply answered any questions she had as honestly as he could. Having gotten to know the girl, he had formed the opinion that she and Oikawa would indeed make a decent match as he was certain that she was someone who would actually stick around once they truly got to know the guy with his questionable personality._

_Oikawa for his part had asked a few cursory questions about Rumiko in the beginning, particularly when he had noticed her at a game more than once but had not pursued any further. As autumn neared its end however, Hajime tested the waters to wage whether Oikawa was interested or not._

_Oikawa had been initially surprised. “Eh, but Iwa-chan, why are you asking that? Don’t you like Sawada-chan?”_

_It had taken a lot of convincing from Hajime for Oikawa to believe him when he claimed that he only liked her as a friend. Even after that he had still been quite wary about being properly introduced to Rumiko, but once they had met, much like Hajime before him, Oikawa was instantly smitten._

_Hajime had been right. The pair had made a good couple. An unfairly attractive one too. Honestly their time together had almost appeared as though it sprung up through the pages of a shojou manga. Being witness to such a carefree love, to be the third wheel, it had been odd. Especially so, once Hajime’s attraction for both members was considered. He managed to keep that hidden, though he had nearly slipped up on more than one occasion._

_One time the three of them were eating lunch together and Hajime’s cover had nearly broken apart completely._

_“Did you see they added a new Godzilla prize to the crane game at the conbini nearest here, Iwaizumi-kun?” Rumiko asked, her smile bright and her eyes alight._

_“Ah, you two and your lizard monsters.” Oikawa laughed as he slung an arm around Rumiko’s shoulders. “I suppose I’m going to have to win this for you, won’t I?”_

_Hajime raised an eyebrow and scoffed derisively. “You suck at crane games. Sawada would have better luck playing herself,” he said as he flicked a grain of rice across the table which made Oikawa squawk indignantly and stick his tongue out at him in response._

_Rumiko’s airy laughter floated across the table, garnering a fond smile from both Oikawa and Hajime. The latter only just barely stalled his expression before either one had caught him._

_There had been many other lunches shared much like that one. Hajime had mostly learned to keep his expression neutral despite any tittering Rumiko’s company may have caused. He had already long since mastered squashing the rumblings that would happen when Oikawa was being genuine and not a pest._

_All in all, Hajime had managed to remain a steady supporter of the couple throughout their entire courtship. He had even helped Oikawa shop for Rumiko’s Christmas gift. Then later, on Valentine’s day when Rumiko had approached him and sought advice on Oikawa’s favourite chocolates, he had given it freely._

_Had destiny not been cruel, the pair might have still been together, even now. However Rumiko’s father had gotten a job overseas and thusly their relationship had ended when they finished their second year._

_They were both distraught and heartbroken; Hajime had one hell of a time comforting the couple, particularly when his own heart had been in the midst of shattering itself._

“No, I haven’t ever had a girlfriend,” Hajime answered as he rubbed the back of his neck, his fingers scraped against the coarse hair at his nape. “I kinda only had one girl that I liked and she didn’t feel the same for me, so uh yeah.”

Katsumi realised that she had hit a sore spot and reached across the table to place her hand gently over Hajime’s in apology. “That’s a shame,” she said, her voice sincere. “Well, hopefully the next one will,” she said as she gave his hand a squeeze before drawing it back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have done so much research for this fic... it was truly a daunting affair. The boys go to Tsukuba University, which is found in the city of the same name, and is in Ibraki Prefecture. Tsukuba is known as 'the science city'. It seems really cool and you should totally check it out if you have time...  
> In any case, I will do my best to update this regularly.


	2. The Calm Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, have a little more Oikawa this time.

Tooru was in his last class of the afternoon, his chin resting on his hand as he attempted to absorb the lesson. He tapped his pencil absently before he scribbled some notes down. He was usually much more attentive in class (okay, no he wasn't), but he hadn’t gotten to see Iwa-chan since they left together in the morning.

Unfortunately this was the one day of the week where their schedules just didn’t line up at all, not until they met for evening practice. A pout settled on his lips until he reminded himself that this was his last class of the day and that he could head straight to the gym afterwards. Sure it meant he would be early for practice but that just meant more time to toss the ball around. Anyway, he had discovered that he was not the only player who showed up early or stayed late these days. His new team was filled with like minded individuals who were always seeking to work hard and to get better with every moment they were given.

He had really been getting the hang of finding everyone’s perfect toss. While he did mesh well with a decent handful of his teammates, he was determined to bring out the best from every single player, like he believed a good setter should be able to do.

Still, on the whole he was quite pleased with the progress the team had made together, what with the integration of the new dynamics such as himself and the other first years, and the departure of graduates. His upperclassmen might have been wary of him at first but he was certain that they now respected and appreciated him. He was also fairly sure that he would make the starting line up of their first match. Well, it was more that there wasn’t any doubt at all in his mind. Quite frankly, he hadn’t come to Tsukuba to lose. He was here to make a name for himself, to get national recognition.

While he was content with things regarding volleyball, he found that his classes at times could be a bit of a bore, but they weren’t entirely terrible on the whole. He had met plenty of cute girls who were great in helping whenever he had a question regarding the university, or the city, or even the prefecture. Tooru had even met a couple of guys in his classes who were quick to tell him some of the cool places to go for university students. If he were to be asked, he could honestly say that he was adjusting to life in Tsukuba fairly well.

Truthfully, the biggest struggle had been the whole sleeping in an unfamiliar place thing. He was slowly getting used to it though. However, he was positive that it would have gone a lot smoother if Iwa-chan had allowed him to sleep with him for more than just the first night. Okay, yes that was totally selfish, and yeah he wanted to lie in bed with Iwaizumi for more than just comfort and familiarity. It wasn’t like he was out to try anything perverse!

Nope. Definitely not. His mind most certainly did not stray into that territory at all. Not even when Iwa-chan was just coming out of the bath, a towel low on his hips and his body was still be damp with water. Yeah... He was totally capable of controlling his urges.

Unconsciously, Tooru licked his lips as his eyes glazed over, the lesson slowly slipped further away from him as his mind went foggy with images of Iwaizumi. His pencil moving absently between his fingers further signified that his attention was not on his professor at all. He was jolted out of his reverie when the class ended, though it wasn’t because his professor’s voice had suddenly gotten through to him, but rather he noticed that the other students were packing up and leaving.

He was quick to pack up, slipping past the crowd and made a speedy exit from the class. Practice didn’t start for another hour or so but he headed toward the gymnasium anyway. He really needed to clear out his head.

Once he reached the locker room he was quick to change and deposit his bag into his locker. When he stepped out onto the gym floor, he realised that he wasn’t alone. One of his older team mates had already set up a net and was practising his own serve. Tooru quickly went to the storage to grab a ball for himself so that he could do the same. Thirty minutes passed and eventually other team members began to arrive.

His attention was focused entirely on his serve, his eyes closed as he took a deep breath, visualising where he wanted the ball to go. He jumped into the air, eyes snapping open and he sent the ball flying over the net. It was in, but just barely.

“Your jump was off,” A voice said from directly behind him which made Tooru startle and turn. He came face to face with Iwaizumi.

“Iwa-chan! Don’t do that,” he cried out.

“Do what? Tell you where you messed up?” Iwaizumi asked, raising an eyebrow, its effect still holding despite the fact the was currently wearing black framed glasses.

“No, you snuck up on me,” Tooru muttered and glanced away. The world was out to get him today it seemed. Of course Iwa-chan had to be wearing his glasses this instant, right when he had been steadfastly attempting to lodge him from his mind.

Tooru chanced a quick peek from the corner of his eye at Iwaizumi who had taken to doing his pre-practice stretches. When he finished, Tooru held out his hand to help him up. “What happened? I swear you left without your glasses this morning.”

“Hm? Oh, yeah,” Iwaizumi said and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was out in the courtyard earlier today and some guys were messing around, then one of ‘em accidentally knocked into me. Lost one of my contacts... sucks, since I won’t be able to get another set until next week,” he finished, his mouth set in a deep frown.

Next week?! How was he supposed to survive until then with Iwa-chan wearing his glasses? This was definitely not fair at all. Before he lost his cool completely, Tooru laughed and slapped Iwaizumi on the back, heartily. “Well, at least now there’s something to distract from your awful hair.”

He managed to duck from the volleyball that was sent flying towards him and he skipped off to the other side of the gym, making like he was going to help set up some more.

As practice got under way, Tooru was able to gain his bearings a little better. He kept his distance from Iwaizumi though, at least until he was sure he wouldn’t make an idiot of himself. While he set for some of his other team-mates he was silently grateful that the sight of Iwa-chan in his glasses hadn’t turned out the way it had during their time at Aoba Johsai.

_Initially Tooru had laughed at Iwaizumi having lost his contacts during P.E. class, because the sight of him diving to save a ball from going into the net while they played soccer and the subsequent mud that splattered everywhere had been hilarious. However, the consequence had come afterwards, once Iwaizumi had changed. With his contacts no longer usable he had to pull out his glasses that he kept in his bag for emergencies._

_While Iwaizumi had received some interested looks his way for the remainder of the school day, it was during practice after school that had been a disaster. If anyone important had come to that session, they’d have no doubt questioned whether Seijou was really one of the top four in the prefecture._

_The minute Iwa-chan had stepped foot onto the gymnasium floor, there had been wide-eyed gawking. It hadn’t ended there either. The team was totally off their game. Whenever Tooru set a ball to someone, it had only been successfully hit fifty percent of the time. Of course, if it was Iwaizumi himself spiking the ball, then the blockers on the other side of the net ended up being the ones to screw up, even Mattsun and Makki! Watari had gotten distracted more than once whenever Iwaizumi’s spike veered towards him, his reaction time a few seconds too slow having made his receives sloppy._

_Mad-dog was more aggressive than usual too, which had thus put everyone else on edge. When Iwa-chan went to scold him however, he simply turned red and didn’t appear to be listening at all, his eyes glassed over and vacant._

_Of course poor Kindaichi was the biggest mess of all. Iwaizumi, oblivious as to why, had simply thought the kid was ill. He had went up to him and placed a hand over his shoulder, meant to comfort him. Tooru was convinced he saw steam come out of the kid’s ears. “You alright? You’re not coming down with something are you?”_

_“Yes! Not at all,” Kindaichi answered and then promptly took off, even tripping over his own feet in the process before Iwa-chan could respond._

_The rest of practice had went much the same way. If people weren’t tripping over themselves, then they would spill their drink from their water bottles from having missed their mouths. Several boys had gotten hit on the head with the ball too, and it became too much that eventually their coaches had called an end to practice altogether._

_On the walk home Iwa-chan was silent, barely responded whenever Tooru had tried to engage him. “Iwa-chan, is everything alright?”_

_“Oikawa, are they really that bad?”_

_Tooru blinked and tilted his head in confusion. “Er, are what bad?”_

_Iwaizumi clicked his tongue and looked at the ground. “My glasses,” he said as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and kicked at a stray rock. “Practice was strange right? And I dunno... I just felt like everyone was looking at me or something.”_

_At this Tooru had been unable to hold in his laughter. Was Iwa-chan really that oblivious? “Don’t be silly, why would anyone look at you, when they could look at me? I mean, a brute with glasses, really?”_

_“Right...” Iwaizumi said, his hollow laughter forced Tooru’s teasing smirk to fall right off his face._

_He had been expecting the usual slap to the head, or a punch to the arm, but instead Iwaizumi did nothing, said nothing, just continued on his path, though his pace had quickened exponentially. “W-wait! Iwa-chan, why are you going so fast?!” Tooru complained and attempted to drape himself over the other boy but was knocked away._

_“Get off,” Iwa-chan replied and picked up his gait even further, almost into a jog. It had been hard to keep up. Despite Tooru’s efforts, he was cut off from following Iwaizumi into his yard and subsequently his house. “Go home,” Iwaizumi snapped before he stomped his way up the stairs._

_It had been lucky for Tooru that Iwaizumi’s mom was home. She had let him inside without fuss. “Thank-you aunty,” he said as he slipped off his shoes and traded them for the guest slippers._

_When he reached Iwa-chan's door, he found that it too was closed and locked. He knocked anyway. “Go away.”_

_“Don’t wanna,” Tooru replied back and continued to knock incessantly, occasionally even jiggled the handle. It seemed that Iwaizumi was being really stubborn though. Eventually Tooru stopped, instead resting his forehead against the door, tried again, “Hajime...”_

_Finally there was noise from the other side of the door and then a small crack. “If you’re here to just make fun of me, I’m really not in the mood.”_

_“I’m not!” Tooru said and held up his hands in defence as he pushed the door open with his foot, following Iwaizumi into the room. He sat down beside him too when he took a seat on the floor. “You’re really dense you know, Iwa-chan.”_

_“What did I say?!” Iwaizumi barked and raised his hand, but Tooru blocked him._

_“W-wait, let me finish!” He huffed, his arms still crossed in the air to prevent an attack. Once Tooru was certain that Iwa-chan had calmed down, he continued, “You weren’t getting looked at because you don’t suit your glasses. It was because they kinda... suit you a little too well,” he finished, though his wording had mumbled out near the end._

_He chanced a glance at Iwa-chan. Iwaizumi was giving him a sceptical look. “What.”_

_Tooru rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. “I mean they frame your face really nicely? Or well, yes.” He looked away, his cheeks going red, and really did Iwa-chan have to stare at him so intently?_

_The rest of their conversation had been awkward, with both boys having ended up with flushed cheeks. Still, Tooru had eventually managed to convince Iwaizumi that he suited his glasses just fine._

Practice had finished and the captain called for everyone to clean up. Tooru had finally reigned in his senses and was at last able to stand side-by-side with Iwa-chan again. He helped him take down one of the nets, both of them carried one pole each and brought it back into the gym’s storage.

Their conversation was light, casual and mostly about volleyball. It was an easy walk back to their apartment after that, their shoulders occasionally bumping and laughter bubbled between them. Tooru had successfully managed to avoid an Iwa-chan related meltdown for the time being.

Of course, all he had to do now was keep it up, be ready for any other surprises that could come his way.

~0~

Hajime groaned to himself as he stopped before he opened the glass doors that lead outside. Katsumi stepped up beside him and peered out too. “Ah, a storm is about to descend upon us,” she said before she shrugged and pushed the door open. “Well, if we hurry we might make it home before it hits!”

He sighed and nodded, tightening his hold on his bag. “Yeah, hopefully,” Hajime said, though his voice held no enthusiasm toward the prospect.

They parted ways rather quickly, as Katsumi’s bus stop was in the other direction. Hajime picked up into a half run when the first drop of rain hit his nose, making him frown. However it didn’t matter, that one drop had suddenly turned into several more, until it was more than just drops of rain. It was a torrential downpour. Really, wasn’t it a bit too early for all this rain? It was supposed to come in June, which was still a month away.

Of course because it was actually nearing June, the temperature had been humid and low rumbling had accompanied the clouds above. Hajime stopped and looked up to the sky just as a flash of lightning struck across the horizon.

He made a noise of displeasure and continued on with his run home. He was nearly there, at least until he skidded to a halt, having stopped at a darkened alleyway. Hajime bit into his lower lip, glanced toward his apartment building that was in his line of vision, then back at the alley, where a small, tatty, shivering cat was mewling pathetically.

His shoulders slumped and he walked into the alley. The cat followed after him expectantly. As he rifled around to find items that he could use to build the little creature some sort of shelter from the weather, he recalled that he had always been a little weak in regards to situations such as this one.

_“I’m telling you, my umbrella is better Iwa-chan,” Oikawa chirped, his expression pompous and matter-of-fact all at once, as he twirled his dark blue umbrella, littered with tiny stars._

_“Who cares? It’s just an umbrella,” Hajime snapped and stalked off, nearly stepping in a puddle as he attempted to get away from the other boy. It proved fruitless as Oikawa simply skipped along beside him, even had the audacity to hum all the while._

_Oikawa, lost in his own amusement, hadn’t noticed that Hajime had stopped walking. He had only been enlightened to this fact when he had asked a question that received no answer. “Iwa-chan?” He was quick to turn around and hurry back toward Hajime. “Why’d you stop?” He asked and then looked down to where Hajime's gaze had been captured. “Oh.”_

_Hajime had stopped in front of a soggy cardboard box. The box had held a litter of kittens that had a sign urging people to take one as they were free. Earlier, before school, they had stopped to play with them for a little bit. Or course, as it had started raining, the box was now drenched and the poor critters were crying._

_“Kinda sad isn’t it?” Oikawa mused as he rocked on the balls of his feet. “Too bad neither of our parents would let us keep them.”  Hajime simply grunted before he crouched down. “Hey, what are you doing? Eh?! Are you crazy? You’re going to get soaked! Your mom will get mad, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa cried out in alarm as Hajime laid down his umbrella to cover the box instead of himself._

_With one last comforting stroke to each kitten, Hajime had finally stood up and continued on his way, not bothering to answer Oikawa at all. “Why did you do that? You’re getting wet, you know. Iwa-chan!”_

Feeling satisfied that he had built a sturdy enough shelter for the night for the small alleycat, Hajime finally headed home. He was thoroughly sodden by the time he made it to his building however. The walk up the stairs to his apartment had his clothes sticking to him in awkward, uncomfortable places. His hands shivered slightly as he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Oikawa was already home, seated on a cushion and reading one of his textbooks. His day had ended earlier than Hajime’s today, with their practice having been a morning one. “You’re wet,” he said as he lowered his book.

“Ah, yeah...” Hajime mumbled as he slipped off his shoes. He dropped his bag next before he pulled off his coat. “Ugh... need a bath.”

Oikawa nodded, eyeing Hajime with a wrinkled nose high in the air. “You do that, though I’m not sure how much it will help with you looking like a drowned rat.” He laughed as Hajime sent a half-hearted kick his way that had missed.

After his bath, Hajime flopped down next to Oikawa, pillowing his head on his arms. “Why’d you get so drenched? You were a bit later than usual too...” Hajime hid his face, though his ears were red and drew Oikawa’s curiosity even further. “Ooo, just what were you up to Iwa-chan?” Oikawa’s tone went high and teasing. “Hm? What was that? I couldn’t hear you?~” He sing-songed.

Lifting his head, a scowl on his face, weakened by the bright red flush adorning his cheeks, Hajime growled out his reply, “I said I stopped and made a dumb cat a shelter. Ugh, why do you have to know everything, stupid Oikawa.”

Oikawa laughed at that and barely yelped at all when he got hit in the thigh. He ruffled Hajime’s hair and cooed at him before he draped himself over the other. “Iwa-chan, you’re such a big softie. That’s why everyone thinks you’re a mom y’know.” Oikawa’s laughter caused the hairs to tickle the back of Hajime’s neck as he burrowed his face in between the crook of his shoulder.

“Shut-up, dumbass,” Hajime mumbled, but it held no bite, as he did nothing to remove Oikawa from his person. Instead he simply turned around so that Oikawa was splayed across his chest. Though, for good measure he did at least flick hi, in the forehead, earning him pout which only made Hajime snicker.

~0~

As Tooru stuffed his sullied practice wear into his bag, he yammered away to Iwaizumi. Their energy was high today; excitement coursed through their very veins. They were both going to be on the starting line-up for the practice match against Hosei University the day after tomorrow. It was the first practice match of the season. While it was true that the line-up consisted of other first and second years, their coach wanted them to get in some court time against a top tier team, it didn’t stop them from being jubilant.

They exited the locker room and made their way outside. “Y’know if we put in a good showing at Hosei, we have a shot of coach considering keeping us in the starting line-up, Iwa-chan.”

“Yeah...” Iwaizumi said, a small smile flitted across his lips. The lights from the surrounding buildings and street lamps danced across Iwa-chan's face which immediately drew Tooru’s gaze. “We’ll really have to show ‘em what we’re made of,” he laughed, boyish, proud and eager. The sound forced Tooru's chest to seize with his long held desire. “Which means you have to rest properly,” Iwa-chan finished and turned to Tooru, his expression suddenly stern.

“Ah, still my mom, Iwa-chan?” Tooru chuckled and rubbed the back of his head from the slap he received. It was for show, since the slaps had never really held any force. In fact, it was rare they would. While their relationship appeared hostile and violent on the surface, serious harm had only ever sprung up on less than a handful of incidents in their long history together. The last time being in middle school, when Tooru had kind of deserved that head-butt, though he would never admit it.

Their conversation continued as they traded off attacks they wanted to try during their upcoming match. Occasionally reminiscing certain offensive maneuvers that had sprouted as they walked home. The soles of their shoes hitting the pavement marked the underlying music to their discussion, continued all the while, even when they turned in the opposite direction of their apartment. They had decided to pick something up for dinner.

“Remember that time Makki made coach Iri- Iwa-chan? What’s wrong?” Tooru frowned as he watched Iwaizumi's expression slowly shift from a sly knowing smile awaiting the end of the anecdote, to one filled with wide-eyed terror. Before he had time to turn his head and see what had Iwaizumi so shaken, Tooru was being pushed out of the way. “Wha- Hey!” As he stumbled a few paces along the sidewalk, Tooru was forced to witness a delivery man trip and lose his grip on a large crate, which had sent it spiralling directly towards Iwaizumi. “Iwa-chan!”

The sound of a large crash echoed in Tooru’s ears. Wood splintered everywhere over the body on the ground. He rushed forward, nearly fell himself as he tripped on one of the crate’s lost items, barely managing the graceless drop to his knees. “Iwa-chan? Iwa-chan are you okay? Say you’re okay,” Tooru shrieked as he pushed the debris off of the prone body before him. Finally a groan escaped from Iwaizumi and relief flooded through Tooru much like the way the Savannah drank up the monsoon rains it awaited for every season. The delivery man was crouched down on the other side of Iwaizumi, and Tooru had half a mind to tell him to go away, to yell at him for putting his friend in such danger, but said friend sat up, albeit slowly and with difficulty.

Tooru placed a steadying hand over Iwaizumi’s back. “Iwa-chan, Iwa-chan are you okay? How do you feel?” Iwaizumi groaned and shook his head, which he appeared to regret immediately as he turned a ghastly green. “J-just keep still okay,” Tooru said, his own body now shaking as fear overtook him.

While he attempted to keep Iwaizumi from moving around too much, the delivery man made himself useful, ordered them a cab and gave them the money to get to the hospital. Tooru couldn’t even say thank-you, instead he glared as he snatched the money out of the poor guy’s hands. During the ride, he did his best to make sure Iwa-chan kept his eyes open. It was hard not to look at the garish gash on the side of his head. Tooru worried at his bottom lip, willing the injury to be superficial.

Once they arrived to the nearest hospital, which turned out to be the one located on their campus, Tooru explained what happened. He was forced to wait as they took Iwaizumi to have x-rays done and to inspect him a little more thoroughly. As he sat in the hard chairs of the waiting room, tapping his foot against the tiled floor in agitation, his arms crossed, Tooru recalled that this wasn’t the first time Iwa-chan had placed Tooru’s safety above his own.

_It had began even before they considered themselves friends, before their first successful toss and spike they shared later down the road. During grade school, in the early days, neither Tooru or Iwaizumi had been popular with the other children. They hadn’t even been placed in the same class, not that that would have done either boy much good, since any other time they had gotten together had ended in an argument, before volleyball had built the foundation for the bridge of friendship._

_However there had been one day in which Iwaizumi had ranked himself higher in Tooru’s mind, above everyone else. While it had been a rather run-of-the-mill sort of day, what with the other children not wanting Tooru to play with them because they claimed he was too bossy. Though it was more likely due to the fact that he often sailed above their respective skills in whichever game they were entailed with at the time._

_“What do you want?” A young boy snarled, mud streaked across his face, “We didn’t ask you to play.”_

_“Like I would want to play with such average guys like you,” Tooru replied, haughty, his chest puffed out as he slipped smoothly past the boy, grabbing for a volleyball from the outside storage._

_Indeed he had often replied in such regard. While his statement was true, as he honestly did not have time for players who couldn't push him to improve, it did not change the fact that it had been lonely to play during every break alone._

_While he practiced his receives, Tooru watched as the other kids informed another boy, one with spiky black hair, that he couldn’t play with them either. Some kind of nonsense about not wanting to play with someone who had caterpillars for eyebrows and looked like a monkey. Their insults weren’t even very creative and it made the future setter snort derisively to himself._

_His eyes followed after the boy, the other pariah booted from the crowd, head toward the edges of the playground. He appeared to be hunting something, though Tooru couldn’t fathom what sort of prey it could possibly be, so he had returned to his own activity._

_Later, a soccer ball had skidded past his feet. Tooru paused for a moment before there were shouts sent his way. “Hey, send the ball back over here,” one of the kids across the field ordered._

_Tooru ignored them at first, but they were an insistent lot. So, wanting to practice in peace he picked up the ball, then kicked it, sending it flying across the field until it hit another kid square in the gut._

_Ah, he was in for it now._

_In a matter of seconds the crowd of the other children had converged upon him, screaming all the while, their faces red with anger. Tooru wanted to run, to back away, instead he stood up straighter. “The hell you do that for huh?!” One boy shouted, his fist held in the air, his teeth visible as he snarled and spat, “Trying to show off again are you?”_

_“No, I simply did as you asked,” Tooru replied easily._

_A ruddied fist flew toward his face, and despite himself his eyes closed, but the hit had never landed. When he opened his eyes, one at a time, another body stood in front of him. The spiky haired boy, Iwaizumi, who he had always called Iwa-chan, held the wrist of the boy who had taken the first swing. “What are you doing? This doesn’t involve you, bug face.”_

_“You asked him to pass you the ball, so he did,” Iwa-chan said, his voice defiant, his eyes set ablaze, expression hard, not dampened at all despite the Godzilla bandage that sat on his right cheek. “It’s not his fault that Kirashima couldn’t catch it properly.”_

_Iwaizumi had finally let go of the other boy’s wrist, and all attention had turned to him, leaving Tooru free to go. However before a brawl could start the bell had rung, signalling the end of their break. “Tch, we’ll finish this later,” the perceived leader grunted before he stalked off. Slowly the rest of the students dispersed, and eventually so did Tooru and Iwaizumi. No words had passed between them._

When Tooru spotted the doctor exit the room Iwa-chan was in, he sat up straighter, licked his lips as his stomach clenched. His ponderment over whether the other kids had ever sought to finish that school-yard skirmish was chased away as Iwaizumi was the next to walk out of the hospital room, making his way slowly toward him.

“Iwa-chan...” He said, his voice quiet and questioning as he eyed the bandage adorning the side of his Iwaizumi's forehead.

“Concussion,” Iwaizumi said before he sighed and grabbed his bag out of Tooru’s grasp. “Gotta take it easy for a week,” here Iwa-chan swallowed, the pain that lined his features were not from his injury, instead from dejection, maybe even regret and Tooru felt his heart drop as he waited for what came next. “Won’t be able to play in the match at Hosei,” he finished with a grimace, his eyes closed in resignation.

~0~

The day of the match arrived. Hajime’s phone played a song to wake him. He rubbed at his eyes and pushed himself out of bed. Once he was out of his room, he found that Oikawa was already in the kitchen, grabbing something from the fridge.

“Don’t eat too much.” Hajime said, making Oikawa jump and turn in alarm.

“Learn to make some noise, Iwa-chan.” He pouted as he bit into his found treat, scarfing the rest down while he stepped out of the way for Hajime to do the same.

They walked to the campus together. Their team was taking the bus to Hosei. The coach still wanted Hajime to attend the match, stating that he could at least observe how the other team played. While he was glad that him having to sit out hadn’t meant that he was to be forgotten, it still caused a bitter bile to settle in the back of his throat at not being able to make his mark known out on the court, for the team’s first match of the season.

Once they arrived to the designated meeting place, the boys found that there were some other members already milling about, including their captain. He gave them a hardy wave before he turned to the vice, and chatted with him. Soon their coaches arrived, opened the bus and motioned for everyone to get on.

Oikawa and Hajime took a seat near the middle. They didn’t talk very much. Hajime was aware that Oikawa preferred to take this time to get his mind into game mode, much like how he needed a time-out after successive serves during a match.

It took them an hour and twenty minutes to arrive to the rival university’s campus. The team was quick to change and stepped out onto the foreign court. They were given time to warm-up before the game would start. Oikawa was quick to practice his serves; several others did the same. Hajime stretched out a bit, but eventually moved to sit down on the bench, taking up the spot nearest his coaches.

Eventually a whistle blew, signalling the end of the warm-up. The two teams took their place on the court, the chosen six from each side starting in their designated position. Their team captain was the only fourth year on the court, his serve the first up.

Hajime watched as it sailed across the net, got received, though haphazardly, forcing Hosei into disarray. Their following attack was sloppy and had been easily blocked. Again their captain, Takanashi Hiro, sent across another serve, though this time it was received perfectly. The match was well and truly under way now.

Soon the gym was filled with the sounds of a match being played, squeaking shoes against the hard floor, team-mates yelling to one another, palms hitting the ball and an occasional cheer from the sidelines or the crowd. Hajime watched with rapt attention, took in everything and made notes to tell his team-mates later, during a timeout.

As his gaze lingered on Oikawa, his mind drifted to the day he had told Hajime their elementary school was going to be starting a volleyball club.

_Hajime raced home, having departed from Oikawa a few houses down. He ran up the stairs to his house, nearly forgetting to take off his shoes. He skidded down the hall in his hurry to drop his school bag in his room. “Mom!” He called out, frantic and buoyant all at once._

_“Hajime?” His mother called and stepped out into the hall where he had popped back out of his room, catching his breath._

_“Can I go to Oikawa’s house?” He asked as he straightened himself out._

_His mother’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oikawa? Oikawa Tooru’s house you mean?” She asked, clarifying this sudden development. Her confusion was not unfounded. The Iwaizumis and Oikawas had attempted to get their two young boys to be friends for the longest time, but once said boys had began to speak and walk, all they ended up doing was fight._

_“Yeah, that one,” Hajime replied, “So can I? Please?” He was practically bouncing on his feet by this time._

_“Since when have you become friends with Tooru-kun?” His mother had asked instead of answering him._

_“Mom,” Hajime whined as he threw his head back and rolled his eyes, frustrated with her slowness. “Since I don’t know, a while! Can I go? Please? He said he asked his mom this morning and that I’m allowed.”_

_Hajime’s mother was unable to hold in her laughter and ruffled her son’s hair. “Alright, alright, I get it. Go on then, but be back for dinner okay?”_

_Before she could even finish, Hajime was out the door. However he ran straight first into his father. “Whoa, slow down there, son.” Hajime’s dad laughed and crouched down, “where you off to in such a hurry?”_

_“I’m going to Oikawa’s house,” Hajime answered, slightly breathless._

_His father’s eyes were the ones to widen this time. “Oikawa Tooru?”_

_“Yessss,” Hajime groaned. “Dad,” he fidgeted in place as he waited for his dad to step out of the way._

_At that his dad had chuckled a bit and then patted him on the back. “Okay, I’ll let you go. I’ll just ask Mom,” he said as he finished laughing and finally moved out of the way for Hajime, who appeared to be on a very important mission._

_It had taken Hajime thirty-seven seconds to get to the Oikawa household. He came to a sudden stop just before he reached the stairway. First he had taken in a large breath of air before he ascended, and then he rang the doorbell._

_Mrs. Oikawa opened the door. “Oh, Hajime-kun, Tooru told me you would be coming over,” she said with a warm smile and let the young boy inside. “Tooru’s in his room, just there down the hall,” she finished, pointing to the room with the closed door. “I’ll bring you two a snack in a little while, okay?”_

_“Yes, thank-you for having me,” Hajime replied with a bow before he took off his shoes, and placed his feet gently inside the guest slippers at the door. He knocked tentatively at Oikawa’s door before he stepped inside. “Um, hey?”_

_“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa perked up, dropping the book in his hand. “You’re here,” he said and tapped the spot beside him._

_Later, when Mrs. Oikawa had kept her word and brought the two boys a snack, Oikawa informed Hajime that he had exciting news. “Well, what is it?" Hajime asked as he bit into an apple slice._

_Oikawa appeared to vibrate in his spot, unable to contain his joy any longer. “Our school is going to start a volleyball club!” He all but shouted._

_“Eh? Really?” Hajime asked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, which had cause Oikawa to wrinkle his nose._

_“Yes, really. Awesome right? We’ll definitely be first string,” Oikawa said with a wide grin, his eyes alight with pure delight. “I mean, we already know so much about volleyball, and know how to play and everything!”_

_“Oh. You want me to join too?” Hajime blinked around his glass of barley tea._

_Here Oikawa frowned. “Don’t be dense, Iwa-chan. Of course we have to join the club together! What was all that practice for then?”_

_Hajime laughed awkwardly, but nodded anyway. “Guess you’re right.” Honestly, he had only continued to practice with Oikawa because it had meant he no longer had to play alone so often. He really didn’t have that much passion for volleyball, not like Oikawa had. His drive toward the sport had been one that built over time. But if joining the club and playing on the team meant that he would still get to hang out with Oikawa, then he would do it._

An out of bounds ball spiralled over Tsukuba’s courtside bench, jarring Hajime back into the present. It was Oikawa’s serve again, though they were now near the end of the set. He watched as Oikawa managed two perfect service aces. His third was received but it had caused the opposing team to scramble around to do so. When the ball was back on their side, Oikawa set the ball to one of the second years who spiked it past the blockers successfully, ending the set.

The two teams huddled up with their coaches. Captain Takanashi commended the team for all playing well during the first set. Here the coaches stepped in to trade off information with the players and formulated their plan to take the second set too. Before the team returned back to the court, Hajime stopped one of his fellow wing spikers. “Hey, I noticed when you’re in the back row, you tend to go stiff, especially whenever that number eight is spiking or serving. He’s noticed that too. It’s why he’s always aiming for you. Next time, just remember to keep breathing, don’t panic, and pretend it’s one of our senpai hitting the ball and receive it like we’ve done in practice.” His team-mate nodded and thanked him before he walked back onto the court, his head held a little higher than before.

When Hajime had taken his seat once more, their head coach was wearing a pleased expression which made his ears go red.

~0~

Tooru rolled over in his bed, grumbled as he tried to sleep some more, though slumber slowly slipped away from him anyway. He groaned and whined some more before he finally hauled himself petulantly out of bed. He trudged his way into the small kitchen, pulling out a frying pan, careful not to make too much noise.

Iwaizumi was still sleeping and Tooru would prefer to keep it that way. Everyone deserved to sleep in on their birthday after all.

It was a shame that Iwa-chan hadn’t gotten to play in the match yesterday, which would have given them even more to celebrate today, as they had won, but Tooru was intent on making up for it. He began whipping up pancake batter and nearly spilled the flour, grumbling to himself. The minor would-be mishap not included, the rest of his cooking endeavour went fairly well. Of course his skills were pretty limited in the kitchen, but as long as a dish didn’t require him to use the oven (his long time nemesis) then he could manage well enough.

Soon Iwaizumi’s feet scuffling against the floor alerted Tooru to his now awake friend. “Ah, Iwa-chan! Happy birthday~!” He straightened up from having placed the plates on the table, turned and beamed brightly at the birthday boy.

“Um, thanks,” Iwaizumi said, his lips curving upwards into a smile. He was about to go get the cushions from the corner before Tooru swatted at him, insisting that he get them, making Iwaizumi laugh. “Fine, fine.”

Once they were seated, Tooru waited for Iwa-chan to take the first bite. When he received a nod of approval, he dug in too. “So,” he said, swallowing his bite full, “19 now, hm?”

“Er, yeah,” Iwaizumi said and raised his eyebrow, “expecting me to feel different or something?”

“You’re as boring as ever, Iwa-chan.” Tooru laughed before he took another bite.

“Shut-up, Crappykawa.”

“Don’t wanna.”

They bickered like that all throughout the rest of their meal until both of their plates were scraped clean. As Tooru gently set his utensils down, he glanced across the table to look at Iwaizumi who was leaning back, his arms behind him to hold him in place. “What?” Iwa-chan frowned.

There was a bit of the chocolate syrup Tooru had made at the corner of Iwaizumi's mouth. Instead of telling him outright, Tooru leaned across and swiped it off with his thumb, then settled back on his cushion. He licked the syrup from his thumb before he grinned at Iwaizumi. “You had syrup on your face, but don’t worry Iwa-chan, I got it for you,” he replied, his voice full of pep.

“I could have gotten it myself,” Iwaizumi mumbled, his cheeks tainted an interesting shade of pink.

“But that’s no fun!” Tooru replied easily. “So, what are your plans today?” Hopefully his friend’s day would be mostly empty, as he intended to bring him to some of the places they had been intending to visit since they moved to Tsukuba.

“Oh, well, I’m meeting up with Ishida-san later,” Iwaizumi answered, “supposed to have lunch or something, I think.”

“Ah, Ishi-chan huh? H-how nice.” Tooru smiled, attempting to keep the venom out of his voice. It resulted in his smile being brittle, which didn’t go unnoticed. Iwaizumi had narrowed his eyes at him. “Just um, surprised you know... seems you two have gotten, er, close in such a short amount of time,” Tooru finished as he recalled the times that Iwa-chan had informed him he had eaten lunch with Ishida. It was far too often in his opinion. Of course, just once was too often for Tooru.

Iwaizumi shrugged, indifferent. “I guess.”

Before they could continue on with the perilous conversation, they were interrupted by Iwaizumi’s cellphone ringing. He went to retrieve it from the counter, answering it, “Hello? Oh, hey Mom,” his voice went light as he descended into chatting with his parents, which left Tooru to mull by himself as he cleaned up their dishes.

After Iwa-chan hung up with his parents, he informed Tooru that he was going to have a shower. The air was still tense around them, and Tooru merely nodded. Iwaizumi’s phone pinged with a message and it took all of Tooru’s willpower not to pick it up.

Instead he focused on cleaning up and was lounging about with a textbook sprawled out in front of him when Iwaizumi stepped out of his bedroom, fully dressed. He checked his message. “Ah, looks like Ishida-san is ready to meet up.” He looked at Tooru warily, expecting him to say something, however he was simply waved away. “Er, right, well see you later then,” he said and slipped on his shoes before he grabbed his keys, stepping out of the apartment quietly.

Tooru dropped his face into his textbook and groaned to himself. He kicked his feet like a child having a tantrum, not caring how immature he looked, intent on getting his frustration out. This wasn’t the first time he had to worry about Iwa-chan being whisked away by some girl.

_Sawada Rumiko had been the first girl who had sent ice running through Tooru’s veins. He had first gotten wind of Iwaizumi’s relationship with Sawada from one of his fans who happened to be friends with the girl, during the middle of summer of his second year of high school._

_“Word has it you’ve gotten yourself a girlfriend Iwa-chan?” Tooru had asked his newly appointed ace one day after practice._

_Iwaizumi had been quick to clear up the misconception, but Tooru had noticed the way Iwa-chan’s whole face had flushed red, and the way he stumbled through the explanation had done very little to ease Tooru’s mind in the end._

_He had let it slide however, for the time being. He hadn’t brought her up in conversation again until a good while later, when he had noticed that Sawada had started to come to their matches. Still, he was careful to keep his questions light, unobtrusive, merely idle curiosity as it were, not wanting suspicion to arise. Though Tooru’s gaze had always settled on the pair when Iwaizumi would meet with her after a match. He had only met her once before, in a group, and all he could recall was the smell of peach blossoms._

_She had been pretty though. Painfully so actually, much as Tooru hated to admit it. He had been rather proud of himself for the way he was able to keep his expression neutral whenever her name would come up._

_However, in autumn, things had changed. When Sawada’s name passed through Iwa-chan’s lips, his eyes would no longer spark to life. Yet, he still spent time with her, still answered her texts, even when he was with Tooru, and still spoke with her after a match. It was as though his friend had been unable to escape her clutches._

_Then one day Tooru had been thrown for a loop. Iwaizumi had asked him what he thought of Sawada. Thusly, he had interrogated him. The gnawing worry that Iwa-chan had been about to ask his opinion on whether he should ask the girl out or not forced the questions out of him. When they had finished, he still had been unsure of what Iwaizumi really felt about Sawada Rumiko. It left him with no choice but to agree to meet her properly himself._

_He had hit it off splendidly with her, much to Tooru’s own surprise. It hadn’t taken very much encouragement at all from Iwa-chan for Tooru to pursue a relationship with Rumiko. While he had been truly taken with Rumi-chan, Tooru had also in part at least, dated her because he still had no idea if Iwaizumi really liked her or not, because there were times when he’d catch a glimpse of his friend’s gaze upon them. His eyes belied some hidden sorrow that Tooru had been unable to pry out of him, no matter how much he tried._

_He had been lucky with Rumiko, that she had fallen for him instead of Iwa-chan. It had been an added bonus that he had fallen for her too, so very deeply in fact. Rumi-chan and her airy laughter, freckles adorning her cute little nose, her heart-shaped face, not to mention that ridiculous trivia on monster movies had managed to pierce her way through his heart._

There was no guarantee that the same thing could happen with Ishida Katsumi. For all Tooru knew, the two could have been already dating. The thought made him scowl as he jabbed his pencil into his textbook.

He was interrupted from his brooding as the door to the apartment opened up. “Iwa-chan... you’re back already?”

“Uh, yeah? We were only having lunch,” Iwaizumi answered as he kicked off his shoes. He flopped down next to Tooru. “You made a hole in your paper you know,” he said as his eyes scrutinized Tooru’s work.

“What?” Tooru blinked. “Oh!” He looked down at his paper and laughed. “Well, never mind that. A-are you free for the rest of the day?” He asked, his voice went quiet as he looked anywhere but at Iwaizumi, prayed his hopefulness hadn’t spewed out of him.

“Hm? Yeah, sure.” Iwa-chan smiled, warm and light.

“Great!” Tooru said and hopped up onto his feet. “Come on, put your shoes back on.” He pulled Iwaizumi up, dragging him to the door. “I was thinking we could go to the expo center. Then maybe we can stop at one of the parks, and obviously I will treat you to dinner afterwards, because I am just that amazing of a friend.”

Iwaizumi laughed as he slipped his shoes back on. “The expo center, the place with a giant rocket and NASA display? Is this for my birthday or yours?”

“Ah, don’t be rude Iwa-chan! I know you want to see the robots they have there,” Tooru replied as he pulled him out the door. “Oh, we should stop at one of the shrines nearest the center too! Maybe you can get a blessing for your birthday. Also, of the parks, I was thinking we should try Doho, you know the one with the lake and everything?” He rambled as he waited for Iwaizumi to lock the door and continued on with his chattering, his hand still wrapped firmly around the other’s wrist as he tugged him along for their first real excursion into their new city.


	3. The First Rumblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions rise and long forgotten insecurities seep back to the surface.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, sorry for the wait, but I do bring with me a longer update?

“Hey,” Hajime said as he took a seat across from Katsumi who had been waiting for him at one of their favourite cafes.

“Hey, yourself.” Katsumi smirked, moving her textbook out of the away. “You’ve been pretty busy lately, I didn’t think you would be able to meet up.”

“Ah, yeah. Course work has picked up and training for volleyball has increased too. We’re getting ready for the Eastern intercollegiate tournament. It has been pretty hectic these days, barely have time for sleep,” Hajime laughed. “How about you? I imagine it’s tough being a fourth year and all?”

Katsumi nodded and hummed in agreement, “Oh, yes, I’m certainly starting to feel it now. Kinda makes me reconsider going for graduate school,” she chuckled. “Putting myself through this for another two to three years...”

The pair finished up their small talk before they got something to eat while they looked over each other’s notes, their conversation having shifted onto their coursework. Eventually, during a lull, when both Hajime and Katsumi were bent over their books, the former broke the silence. “Hey, how is Fujiwara-san doing? She able to play again?”

“Hm?” Katsumi blinked and looked up from her work, her long hair spilling slightly over the table. “Oh, yes, Fumi has been cleared to continue with her training. Such a relief,” She laughed and took a sip from her drink. “Finally an end to her complaints!”

“Ah, like many other athletes before her and she is unable to rest properly huh?” Hajime grinned, knowing full well how Fujiwara must have felt during her recovery period.

“Yes!” Katsumi exclaimed, suddenly animated. “Your lot is truly insufferable at times,” she groaned and slapped Hajime’s arm playfully that was resting upon the table.

“Sorry, sorry,” he chuckled and held up his hands in defence.

Katsumi stuck out her tongue and gently kicked Hajime from under the table. “Oh, since we’re on this topic,” she said, leaning back, “I’ve been wondering, but will you be having any matches at home, any time soon? Some of my friends have been dying to meet you, y’know. They’re always sniping at me over how I get to eat lunch with you and what not. Attending a match seems like a good opener?” She finished, her expression kind and open.

Hajime blinked and sat up straighter. “Oh, er, yeah,” he coughed, clearing his throat which went tight and swollen suddenly. “Yeah, we have a friendly match this weekend actually.”

A wave of anxiety dropped over Hajime like an anvil to cement, fissuring his surface. He hadn’t had anyone come to a match since Rumiko. If it had simply been Katsumi asking to attend on her own, it would have been fine, but the prospect of others reminded him all too well that there were bigger, brighter and more amazing players on his team.

Not to mention Oikawa, who had never once in his life allowed him to be alone in a crowd of girls for more than a minute if he could help it.

_When he and Rumiko had begun to hang out with one another more and more, there had been a brief time wherein a crowd of girls would flock to them. Sometimes it was simply because they had been Rumiko’s friends and they would whisper to her, giggle and then proceed to ask Hajime questions. The other times however, they were classmates, who he had the distinct impression were simply being nosy and wanted some good gossip._

_It would be these crowds that Oikawa would happen upon and had promptly sprung up seemingly out of no where. A shrill cry of ‘Iwa-chan’ often preluded his presence. He always managed to turn the attention back onto him as he oozed out charm and wit, practically dazzling all the while._

_He had the girls tittering in no time at all, even Rumiko had gotten caught up in it more than once. It had been one of the first signs that she had taken a liking to Oikawa._

_While Oikawa simply drawing attention onto himself hadn’t bothered Hajime that much, as he had believed the other to be far more suited to the limelight than he could ever hope to be. What grated at him however was the fact that in nearly all instances, Oikawa’s perceived wit came at the cost of Hajime’s embarrassment. He had stormed off, beet red, fuming with anger and humiliation on more than one occasion. The laughter followed after him, even long after he was out of earshot._

_Granted he never believed Oikawa’s interruptions to be malicious or filled with any ill intent, it had still stung far more deeply than Hajime let on. He knew that his friend thrived under attention and praise. It let him know that his hard work was being recognized and Hajime could not fault him for that. Particularly because Oikawa more often than not played better after having his ego stroked a little. It was just that the school yard taunts of ‘bug face’ and ‘monkey boy’ would eventually make their way back into his consciousness all over again._

_Perhaps he ought to have brought this up with Oikawa, informed him that his attempts at regaling an audience with lighthearted anecdotes affected him more severely than mere annoyance over his shitty personality. But, that would mean Hajime would have to admit that he was not as self-assured and secure in himself as he presented himself to be to the world. To Hajime, it signified an act of cowardice to let such things bother him so acutely. Plus, it would have felt like he lost to those punks who started the name-calling all those years ago._

“Ah, you look at little pale. Are you sure it’s okay to bring them along, Iwaizumi?”

Hajime swallowed and gave Katsumi a lopsided smile, one that did not reach his eyes. “What? I’m fine,” he said, shaking his head. “Really it’s cool. I’m sure our team wouldn’t mind the extra support to be had.”

He received a thorough scan over his person, much like the ones Oikawa was prone to do, and he did his level best to remain as unperturbed as he possibly could. It appeared to have worked as Katsumi nodded and asked for the exact date of the match.

Really, what was he getting himself into?

~0~

Tooru huffed in annoyance. “Geez, you aren’t even listening to me Iwa-chan!” He and Iwaizumi were making their way to one of the campus gymnasiums. Their team was hosting a friendly match against Rikkyo University. Tooru was particularly pumped for this as he and the team were looking to make up for the loss they had against Chuo earlier in the week.

“You’re going on about nonsense anyway,” Iwaizumi grunted.

That made Tooru frown. He was about to issue out a choice jibe when he took a proper look at his friend. Iwaizumi somehow managed to appear resigned? No that wasn’t it. Tooru chewed on his bottom lip as he deliberated over Iwaizumi's odd demeanour. Honestly, with closer inspection, it was almost as though Iwaizumi wasn’t looking forward to the the match at all. That couldn’t be. Why would he have any qualms over it?

Before Tooru could contemplate over the issue any further however, Iwaizumi pushed the door open to the locker room. “Hurry up, quit spacing out, Dumbass.”

“Hmph!” Tooru brushed past him, his pointed nose held comically high in the air.

Still, even after their team-mates filed in one after the other, Iwa-chan’s dejection had seemingly only grown and it was not just in Tooru’s head. Their captain, Takanashi noticed something was off with Iwaizumi too. “Yo,” he said as he clasped a broad hand over Iwaizumi's shoulder. “You feeling alright? You’re not sick are you?” He asked, concern suddenly flittering over his face.

“W-what?” Iwaizumi blinked, snapping out of whatever void he had been lost to. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine,” he mumbled, but gave his captain a reassuring smile, “coursework, that’s all,” he finished with a wave of his hand.

Takanashi nodded in understanding, chuckling a bit. “Ah, right, right. Well, no need to sweat it right this instant,” he said, making Iwaizumi nod along with him before he headed out into the gym.

Tooru watched their captain leave and then glanced at Iwa-chan. Iwaizumi had just lied. Takanashi may have bought it, but he knew Iwaizumi better than that. He wanted nothing more than to prod a little more, to wheedle the information out of him, but there was no time. Instead he simply followed Iwaizumi out onto the court.

Players from Rikkyo were already warming up, the sounds of sneakers squeaking against the floor and volleyballs being slapped resonated throughout the air. Tooru was tossed a ball from one of his seniors and nodded his thanks. He was about to practice his serve when something caught his eye. There was a bit of a crowd today. That wasn’t entirely surprising in of itself. Tsukuba supporters were just as adamant on having their team make up their earlier loss. What had caught his interest was that Iwa-chan seemed to know someone amongst the spectators. In fact, there appeared to be a whole group of girls waving at him from the bleachers.

One of the girls, with long wavy black hair and red lips that added to her already strikingly beautiful face, called out to Iwaizumi, waving at him.

“What’s this? That your girlfriend up there, Iwaizumi?” Takanashi smirked, and raised an eyebrow, though his eyes glinted with approval. Tooru’s stomach had simply twisted, and his expression turned so foul he scared away one of his fellow first years that he had been practising with.

“Er, no, she’s my classmate,” Iwaizumi muttered.

Instantly, Tooru’s blood began to boil. Classmate. He didn’t buy it for a minute. He had a creeping suspicion that he knew just who this supposed ‘classmate’ was. It was no doubt Ishida Katsumi. That Ishi-chan his dear Iwa-chan had been spending way too much time with as of late.

While he clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth quite loudly, Tooru served the ball over the net, making the others on the opposite side yelp from the force of trying to receive it. He yelled out his apologies, but promptly did the exact same thing right after. He was unable to control the spite that coursed throughout his entire body. He hadn’t even noticed he’d lost his practice partner.

Suddenly an image of a teenaged boy with effortlessly styled copper brown hair, his fringe dyed a midnight blue, and cocky smirk flashed through Tooru’s mind.

Tooru had nearly forgotten Iwa-chan’s once upon a time older neighbour. Nearly.

_“Iwa-chan, you’re almost vibrating off the bench!” Tooru laughed and crowded into Iwaizumi's space. “What are you so nervous for?”_

_Iwaizumi blinked and glanced around before he grinned. “Hisao-san came to watch me play!” He answered in a rush, unable to contain his excitement any longer._

_“Eh? Your neighbour?” Tooru tilted his head, struggling to grasp what was so awesome about that. When Iwaizumi nodded however, he was about to continue with his query but their coach had called for them to start their warm-up._

_“Hajime!” Tooru frowned and turned to follow the sound of the gravelly voice that called out to his team mate. There he was. Nobuyaki Hisao. He looked completely out of place amongst the crowd of parents and their grade school classmates. His nonchalant delinquent vibe oozed off of him with ease._

_Tooru clucked his tongue before he stomped away, annoyance crawling through him with the way Iwa-chan practically beamed and animatedly waved to Nobuyaki. He hadn’t seen what was so great about that guy at all._

_His sour mood affected his game-play for the first half of the set. It further aggravated him that his mistakes were righted by Iwaizumi having put in more effort. Still, it hadn’t meant that he escaped a scolding from him during a time-out. The kick to his shin was definitely uncalled for, but had at least gotten Tooru’s head back in the game._

_In the end they managed to scrape by with a win. After the match, instead of instantly heading back to the locker room to change, Iwaizumi ran over to Nobuyaki. Tooru watched with his lips pursed so tight, they were barely visible at all, and his eyes narrowed into slits. His stomach twisted as the teen congratulated Iwaizumi who had stars in his eyes, ruffled his hair and offered him a fist bump that Iwa-chan was all too ecstatic to take. On the whole, Iwaizumi appeared to be overrun with exultant triumph over the whole ordeal._

_He had taken far too long to return to Tooru’s side and hadn’t even had the decency to quell his smile even a little. Once they changed out of their uniforms and began their trek home, Tooru was unable to keep silent. “You know Iwa-chan, you looked like some sorta shoujo heroine making those googly heart eyes at Nobuyucky.”_

_“What?” Iwaizumi scowled and turned to glare at Tooru. “I did not! And that’s not his name,” he huffed and stomped ahead._

_Tooru followed along after him easily, not missing a beat. “Well, I’m just surprised you aren’t embarrassed with yourself, that’s all,” Tooru continued, his tone cavalier. “You practically made a fool of yourself! And for Nobuyucky too! He’s not even cool,” he finished, disdain dripping from every facet of his small body._

_Iwaizumi halted and turned fully around to face Tooru. “Take that back!” He said, his voice rising as he clenched his hands into fists at his side._

_“No way. It’s true!” Tooru shook his head adamantly. “I mean, isn’t he just some kinda... pretend punk?” He proceeded, unable to reign in his venom. “That’s why he’s Nobuyucky! Because he’s yucky and gross.”_

_It was then that Iwaizumi shoved Tooru. “He is not! Why are you saying that?!” His voice cracked, as he looked at Tooru in confusion._

_“Because he’s weird!” Tooru responded, his own voice going shrill. “And... and if he’s your friend, that means you’re weird too!”_

_Iwaizumi’s eyes widened and there had been a momentary flash of hurt in them before he slammed his fist into Tooru's stomach. “No he isn’t! A-and I’m not. You’re just stupid and a jerk!” He answered back, the last word said with a snarl, and then he promptly ran off; the last thing Tooru recalled was that his eyes glinted with the threat of tears._

_“A-ah, wait Iwa-... Hajime!” Tooru called out to him, but he had not turned back around._

_After that argument they hadn’t spoken for a whole week. It was the biggest fight they’d had in their nearly five years of friendship they shared together up to that point._

It was the third set of their match against Rikkyo by the time Tooru managed to push Nobuyaki from his thoughts. Iwaizumi was back on court, having subbed out one of their seniors earlier in the set. He had sat out of the second. They currently had match point, and the Tsukuba libero just received the ball, sending it successfully to Tooru. Takanashi was in better position to spike the ball over the net, rather than Iwa-chan, but almost on pure instinct, that was where the ball headed towards anyway.

Iwaizumi smashed through the blockers just like Tooru knew he would, the resounding slap of the ball hitting the floor signalled the end of the match.

After the team shook hands with their opponents, some of their older team-mates went back to the locker room while everyone else helped with cleaning up the gym. Once the floor had been cleared, Iwa-chan was called to the side, much to Tooru’s dismay. He felt his eye twitch and he knew he ought to just go change. _He knew_. And yet, his feet carried him towards Iwaizumi and his crowd of admirers all the same. “Ah, what’s this now? You didn’t tell me you had gotten yourself a fanclub Iwa-chan,” Tooru said, his voice sugary sweet as he smiled benignly at the group of girls, surveying them all the while. “And what pretty supporters too!”

He was pleased when they giggled and batted their eyelashes at him. All but one. The girl with the long wavy black hair instead wore an impassive, unimpressed expression before her lips curved into a smirk. “Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say fanclub. That’s a bit too official,” she said as she placed a perfectly manicured hand over Iwa-chan’s arm, her red nails glinting under the fluorescent light.

Tooru kept his smile in place, though his eyes held a secret menace as he replied, “Is that so?” He knew he shouldn’t have done this. Really he did. It truly did not make sense how someone so calculated such as himself could be so damn impulsive when it came to Iwa-chan.

“Mm. Ishida Katsumi,” she inclined her head, “and you’re ah, Oikawa Tooru, right?” Ishida asked, almost simpering at him. “Of course, perhaps we should reconsider. What do you think Mimi?” She turned her head slightly, a quick glance to one of the other girls, who looked back at her with wide eyes. “We could even have a slogan for Iwaizumi’s amazing arms,” she finished as she rested her head on said man’s shoulder, like that was the most natural thing in the world for her to do. The fact that Iwa-chan didn’t even look surprised signalled that perhaps it was after all.

It took every remaining ounce of control Tooru had not to just yank his friend away. “Aw, I’m sure a _seemingly_ clever young lady like yourself would come up with something appropriately witty,” he said, his eyes falling to her attire; that might have looked perfectly fine if she were waltzing around Shibuya, but certainly would never work in any professional setting.

Here, Iwaizumi was frowning at him, his brows furrowed into a deep v. “Um, right well...”

Ishida gave Tooru one last smirk before she turned to Iwaizumi. “Ah, guess you want to get home huh?” She laughed, lifting her head from Iwa-chan’s shoulder. “Well, you played really well today. Thank-you for having us.” With that she then kissed Iwaizumi firm on the cheek, her red lipstick imprinting on him. “See you in class!” She said as she walked off with her friends, turning her head to give one final wave and wink.

“What... an interesting girlfriend you have, Iwa-chan,” Tooru said and barely suppressed his need to scowl at the sight of the red lipstick.

“Ishida isn’t my girlfriend,” Iwaizumi grumbled and stalked off to the locker room.

“You don’t need to lie, you know Iwa-chan,” Tooru said, not looking at Iwaizumi as he stuffed his uniform into his bag.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“About Ishi-chan, of course. She seems very lovely, doesn’t seem like your type though. So that is a bit surprising.”

Iwaizumi sighed and turned to face Tooru, dropping his bag on a nearby bench. “She’s not my girlfriend. Also what would you even know about my type, dumbass.”

“Well, she certainly wants to be,” Tooru muttered, ignoring the latter half Iwaizumi's comment.

“What? No she doesn’t. Where the fuck did you get that idea?

At that, Tooru looked up at Iwaizumi, his expression incredulous. “Um! She was hanging all over you! Or did dense Iwa-chan miss that part?”

“Fuck-off, Oikawa. We’re just friends,” Iwaizumi nearly growled, his eyes going dark.

“Just friends?” Tooru laughed mockingly, “You truly are oblivious, Iwa-chan. She’s very clearly into you. I mean, she was blatantly flirting with you! Practically showing you off to her little group of friends!”

It was Iwaizumi’s turn to look at the other in disbelief. “There you go again, exaggerating utter nonsense.”

“It is not nonsense!” Tooru cried out. “She kissed you on the cheek,” He finished, nearly hysterical.

For a moment Iwaizumi hesitated and then he heaved out a heavy sigh, “look, I don’t know what the hell you’re up in arms about, but trust me when I say that I know for a fact that Ishida is not interested in me.”

“You are really living up to your name right now. Total rock head.”

This time Iwaizumi’s eyes flashed with anger and he stormed over to Tooru. His hands were quick to reach out and he gripped at the collar of Tooru's shirt. “How about you shut your mouth for once? When I say she’s not interested in me, I _mean_ she’s _not_ interested in me,” he ground out.

“And how do you know that?” Tooru asked, his tone derisive.

Iwaizumi growled in frustration, his grip tightening. “I just do!”

“How?” Tooru asked again, not backing down. It was his turn to lean forward, getting into Iwaizumi's face. “Go on then, tell me. How can you possibly know? Hm? How?” He could feel Iwaizumi’s hands trembling against him, no doubt in anger, his hands still firmly grasped around Tooru’s shirt. “Come on Iwa-chan. You’re soooo positive about this, just tell me how.”

“Fucking dammit! I just know!”

“How?”

“It’s none of your damn business,” Iwaizumi said and let go of his hold on him.

“Because you don’t know,” Tooru replied dryly.

“Agh! You...” Iwaizumi made fists of his hands again, turned away before he opened them once more. “You’re such an asshole! I know because she has a girlfriend! As in she doesn’t like guys, which, oh hey big surprise! I happen to be. So would you just shut-up!” When he finished he was huffing, his chest heaving heavily until finally he collapsed onto a bench.

Tooru remained firmly in place, shock written clear across his face. “Wh- a girlfriend? But... the kiss and the flirting...”

“Yeah... I dunno. I guess she just wanted to get a rise out of you. Obviously it worked.” Iwaizumi blew out a long breath of air before he buried his face in his hands.

“Eh?! Why would she want to do that?" Tooru asked, aghast.

“Tch, dunno... maybe she sensed your giant ego and realised your tendency to draw any and all attention back onto you,” Iwa-chan mumbled, as though he hadn’t meant to answer.

“Hey! How rude, Iwa-chan. I do no such thing.” Tooru jutted out his lower lip and crossed his arms, but when he received a withering glance from his resigned friend, he gulped and dropped them. “I... sorry,” he said quietly; his expression turned sheepish.

“Yeah, whatever. Forget about it. Let’s just go,” Iwaizumi said, his voice tired and complacent as he picked up his bag.

Tooru had no choice but to silently nod his head and follow out after him.

~0~

Things had grown awkward between Hajime and Oikawa since their argument after their match against Rikkyo. Unfortunately they were unable to properly address the whole debacle because training picked up right after for the Eastern Intercollegiate tournament, not to mention they also had exams for the first two modules of their spring semester.

Honestly, Hajime was ready to sleep for a week. They made it to the quarter-finals during the tournament. However they had lost yet again to Chuo, but the team definitely wanted to make it further for the All Japan. As for his exams, he was fairly confident that he had done well. He had yet to receive all of his scores back though.

So all in all, while June had been extremely hectic, he couldn’t quite slow down yet. He had to get through the rest of the semester. His current goal was to survive to August and pass his exams that would occur then too. Thankfully practice eased up a little to allow him to throw himself into his coursework more heartily, so that he could aim to do more than just pass, and maybe even go for acing them.

He attempted to ease into July as best as he could, having even made some new friends as he had gotten paired up for assignments. Oikawa was doing the same as far as Hajime knew. He would often make a comment about having to meet up with group mates or the like. Though their conversations as of late were stilted and mostly consisted of idle chatter about their team or the classes they shared.

While Hajime would have preferred for things to return to normal between him and his best friend, he unfortunately had to focus on his current group project for his physiology class. At the moment he was waiting for his group out in one of the courtyards around campus. He watched a bug crawl on the ground before his attention was snapped away by the commotion of someone dropping their pile of books, cursing and grumbling to themselves. Hajime was quick to his feet and helped his fellow student.

“Ah, thank-you,” the guy said, as they both crouched down to retrieve the fallen items. “My fault for attempting this without a bag,” he finished with a laugh.

“Happens to the best of us,” Hajime replied as he stood with a gathered pile of books. He waited for the other guy to do the same. It gave him the time to have a quick look over the other man. He appeared to be slightly older than Hajime, and with closer inspection he realised that he had seen this guy around before. He was often around the physical education department, which meant he was likely a studying something similar to Hajime.

The guy had dark brown hair that was shorter on the sides and back, while it was thicker and longer on the top, textured into a bit of a faux hawk. His eyes were dark and enhanced by trendy red framed glasses, held up by his long, sharp and pointed nose. As the guy finally stood, he gave Hajime a grateful smile. “Thanks again, I’m Matsuba,” he said as he accepted the books carefully into his arms.

“I’m Iwaizumi,” Hajime replied and nodded, “You’re also studying physical education? I’ve seen you around before, in the department I mean.”

“Oh, yes. I’m a second year, though I was a ronin for one too.”

“I see. I’m still only in my first,” Hajime said, unsure of why he continued conversing with Matsuba. Somehow he reminded him of someone, which was drawing him to this guy more than usual.

“Really? How are you finding your first year, then? Did you move here?" Matsuba asked, who instead of being annoyed that he was being kept, was returning the same sort of casual intrigue back at Hajime.

They began to descend into idle chatter, a light laughter bursting forth from the pair as they traded sports related stories. As their seemingly random connection continued to grow the more they spoke, Hajime attempted to deliberate over why he wanted to get to know Matsuba better. Perhaps it was the way he carried himself with such a carefree confidence? Or perhaps it was the way he managed to charm without over doing it? Ah, or perhaps it was that bright smile of his? Wait. What?

Before Hajime could properly follow that line of thought however, his group had chosen that exact moment to arrive. “Ah, Iwaizumi, lucky we came just now,” Kawasuki, one of the three boys said with a sneer upon his face. “This homo trying to pick you up? No need to be so polite and humour him.”

The other two boys laughed and nodded their head in agreement. “Yeah, but don’t worry; can’t blame you if you didn’t know about this guy, if he really is one, that is,” Samakoto jeered, making the others snicker over his perceived brilliance.

Matsuba stood up straighter, his cheeks flushing slightly as his expression dropped into one of disdain. “I see your group has arrived. I do wish you luck, Iwaizumi. To be stuck with such simple-minded children to do your project, I offer my pittance,” He gave the offending trio an acerbic stare, not even batting an eye as they snarled at him for his quip before he turned on his heel, walking primly away.

“Tch, heard he heads up to Nichome every chance he gets,” Kawasaki said. “Probably thinks that because Tsukuba has a lot of foreigners studying here, it’s okay for him to be some kinda proud homo.”

Hajime’s brows furrowed as his stomach knotted together. What would these guys think of him if they learned he was in love with his very male best friend? Or even... his troubled thoughts prior to their arrival, that he had maybe sorta liked Matsuba’s smile, and well perhaps even more than that. He was certain that they would hold no qualms about mocking him either from what he just witnessed.

While he initially thought that these guys were pretty cool, they had told him about some neat places to see whenever he got another chance to head up to Tokyo, his bubble had broken. However, even if they were rude, wasn’t it true that he was the weird one? He’s the one in love with another guy after all, and well he still rather liked Matsuba, wanted to know more about him even. As he worked on autopilot throughout their get together for their project, Hajime came to the startling conclusion that he was attracted to Matsuba. Worse than that was that he finally remembered who Matsuba reminded him of. His former neighbour Nobuyaki Hisao.

_Nobuyaki Hisao entered into Hajime’s life fairly early on. While he had still been nothing more than a young boy, lonely and ostracised, Hisao spotted Hajime in his family’s yard one day. They had moved next door about a month prior to their first meeting._

_“What are you doing?" Hisao asked. He came outside to feed his family’s cats and eyed the then six year old Hajime, wearing a wry smile. “This is our yard you know,” he said as he made his way toward the younger boy._

_“Um... the beetle I’m hunting came this way...” Hajime replied, his cheeks puffed out in petulance. “Ah, a bug hunter huh?” Hisao laughed and crouched down closer to Hajime's eye level. “You any good at catching them?”_

_Hajime wrinkled his nose and furrowed his brows. What sort of question was that? He gave Hisao a wary look before he answered. “I’m okay, I guess.” With the older boy stooped down beside him, he determined that Hisao had likely just entered his teen years. It made Hajime unsure of whether he was about to be mocked for his childish activity or not._

_“Oh, looks like he got away,” Hisao said and then stood up with hands on his hips. He watched with idle interest as the beetle flew off out of Hajime’s reach._

_“Ah!” Hajime slumped and his hold on his net went limp. The sound of a lighthearted chuckle made him scowl and he turned, about to speak his mind before suddenly a hand had started to ruffle his hair. “U-um...”_

_“Well, since I distracted you, I was about to have some barley tea. Would you like some? We can sit on the porch and hang out with the cats.”_

_Hajime didn’t know what to do so he just simply nodded and followed after the older boy who told him to wait on the back porch. While he did so, one of the cats had come up to him and purred, so he turned his attention to the small animal. He petted it and allowed for it to clamber into his lap._

_“I see Yoshi like you,” Hisao said as he grinned down at the younger boy. He handed him his cup of tea before he too took his seat, settling beside Hajime. “That must mean you’re super cool. She usually doesn’t like anybody.”_

_At that Hajime turned bright red, and took a large gulp of his drink. “R-really?” He asked once he swallowed his tea, though was looking pointedly away from Hisao._

_After that fateful day, whenever the two neighbours managed to spot one another, they would speak and eventually Hajime would be invited over to visit the cats again. Hisao taught him so many things, such as how to hit a baseball, how to arm wrestle, and even how to become a better bug catcher. Hajime couldn’t figure out why Hisao was okay with spending time with him, since he was older, and it wasn’t as though he was lacking friends. He appeared to have made them rather quickly, as though he had lived in the area all his life. His friends visited quite frequently from what Hajime could gather, when the pair weren’t spending time together. He had asked Hisao one day, and was told that the older boy had always wanted a younger brother._

_The years passed and as they did, Hajime’s admiration grew. He was always excited when he got to spend time with Hisao, even after he had made his own friends, and even a best friend at that. In fact he was over the moon when he was allowed to call the older boy by his given name. If he had done something that made himself proud, he couldn’t wait until he was able to tell the other._

_He later came to appreciate Hisao’s style. If Oikawa fit the trope of the standard prince type, then Hisao was definitely slated to be a rebel prince. He was so effortlessly charming, playful and popular, yet also rejected the typical attire attributed to a hardworking student, who had also claimed the title of class president. He nearly always had his fringe died some strange colour and never wore his uniform properly. Not to mention his smile often had a teasing edge to it._

_So when Hisao moved away for university when Hajime was twelve, he was rather devastated. To have lost someone so cool, that helped shape him in a way, it jarred him. He ached and longed for the other boy, unsure of why it had hurt so much._

As he finished up the last details of his project, Hajime now realised why. Hisao had been his first crush. He swallowed the lump in his throat, nodded to some remark Kawasuki made before he packed up.

After he waved halfheartedly to his group, which he thankfully would not have to meet up with again after this, Hajime headed toward the gym. Practice wasn’t for another hour. In fact it was even further away than that, but he didn’t know what to do with himself. When he arrived to the locker room, he simply sat on one of the benches, lost to his thoughts.

Being in love with Oikawa, Hajime had come to terms with that. He always believed that it was simply a matter of growing up with him, of being so close and that his desire for the other man was an isolated incident.

What was he supposed to do now that he knew it wasn’t? He was thrown a curve ball with the revelation that he had been attracted to other guys for a lot longer than he initially thought. Not to mention Matsuba, this recent attraction. What did this all mean? He hadn’t even had the same reaction for a girl while here in Tsukuba, not even the girls Katsumi introduced him to.

But. But he had liked Rumiko, hadn’t he? Hajime worried at his lower lip as he buried his face in his hands. His mind swirled in turmoil as he attempted to determine what he had been attracted to. Had he been doing nothing more other than attempting to repress his natural urges and pushed himself to fall for her?

He groaned to himself, so adrift in his solo lamentation that he didn’t hear that someone else had entered the locker room. In fact, he didn’t even notice that the other guy took a seat on the same bench. “You alright, Iwaizumi?” Takanashi’s voice cut through Hajime’s thoughts, startling him, making him look up with wide eyes. “Ah, sorry. I thought you heard me.”

“It’s okay...um...” Hajime muttered and glanced back down. “I’m. I’m alright.”

“How convincing.” Takanashi chuckled and nudged Hajime's shoulder. “Seriously what’s up? School stress? Or, hmm... girl troubles?” Hajime was unable to stop the twitch of his eye, which the other spotted right away. “Oh?”

“I... it’s not. I’m not... ugh I...” Hajime clenched his hands into fists, unable to formulate words, or rather he was afraid to. Takanashi was a wonderful captain, and sure he wanted to help him out now, but what should happen if he told him what was actually bothering him? How could he know that Takanashi wouldn’t end up like his group mates? What if he told the team? His heart constricted at the prospect and his expression shifted into one of anguish.

“Whoa, hey,” Takanashi’s eyes widened with worry and he placed a gentle hand over Hajime’s back. “Seriously, something is up. Talk to me.”

Hajime shook his head. “I can’t.” His teeth sunk hard into this lower lip; he was close to drawing blood. Takanashi frowned, sighed and tried again. “Iwaizumi, you’re obviously very troubled at the moment, and look, whatever you say, I promise that it will stay between you and me, alright? I’ve seen too many guys break apart by bottling shit up.”

When Hajime looked up, his eyes desperate and yearning to believe what his captain told him, that he would indeed keep his word. “I...” He didn’t know how he was supposed to start. How much would Takanashi’s opinion change if he shared what was on his mind? The corner of his mouth twitched, the heavy lead settled in the pit of his stomach and the vice grip around his chest squeezed tighter, until finally Hajime divulged everything, unable to keep it locked away.

Once Hajime finished telling his captain his worries, Takanashi wore a warm smile, his eyes glinting with understanding rather than disgust or ridicule. “Well, I can see why you were troubled, and that you like guys, it’s not an issue for me. I mean. I uh, actually do too. Well, I like girls as well, but anyway, you’re not weird okay? Those guys, they’re assholes.”

“You...” Hajime stared at Takanashi in awe. While he knew was hardly the only man to like other men, it was still nice when the news came from someone he respected, admired and found... well decidedly normal.

“And, I was serious about before. This chat is just between us.” Finally, Hajime was able to give him a tiny smile, a small load lifted from his shoulders from simply having revealed his current plague of the mind. “Thank-you.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Takanashi said and gave Hajime’s shoulder a hard clasp of reassurance before he drew his hand back. “So uh, hey, does that mean you and Oikawa are together? You two are pretty close...” Hajime froze up momentarily before he shook his head. “No, me and Oikawa... we’re just friends.” The last word, he was unable to contain his bitterness.

“Oh.” Takanashi nodded. “In love with your best friend, huh?”

“A-ah...”

“Well, that’s always rough, but you can get past it,” Takanashi said, but before he could continue, the door to the locker room swung open. A couple of their team-mates stumbled in and greeted them. “Ah, nearly time for practice eh, boys?” He said with a laugh. He gave Hajime’s shoulder one last squeeze before he picked up his bag and headed toward his usual locker.

Hajime was grateful for the others’ timing as he was definitely not ready to tackle the whole Oikawa issue, particularly since things were uncomfortable between for the moment. Still, having cleared his head of all of that other stuff, he was content that he would be able to go about practice as usual.

~0~

Tooru slowly turned onto his side, burrowing into his pillow as he drew his blanket up over his head, doing his level best to stay asleep. Unfortunately a tantalizing smell wafted its way into his room. His stomach betrayed him in a matter of seconds, gurgling, which made him groan and whine.

Why did his body insist on being awake? He deserved the right to sleep in on this very special day, his day of birth! Petulantly, he got out of bed. His hair was in disarray as he trudged out of his room and into the kitchen. There he found Iwaizumi over the stove, seemingly stirring the contents within a pot. As he got closer, the smell meandered slowly to him, and the fragrance was something familiar. “That smells like my Mom’s miso soup.”

Tooru leaned against the countertop, not giving any care at the way he crowded up the small kitchen and watched as Iwa-chan’s ears went red. “Er, yeah. I phoned her for her, um, recipe earlier in the week,” he muttered and was pointedly not looking at Tooru, instead keeping his eyes trained on the soup.

A pleasant warmth spread throughout Tooru’s entire body; he was unable to suppress the pleased smile that overtook his features. “Ah! Iwa-chan, that’s so sweet!”

“Shut-up,” Iwaizumi replied, but the crimson from his ears had reached his cheeks now. “What are you doing awake anyway? You told me to let you sleep in.”

Here, Tooru made a noise of distress and pouted dramatically, almost with his entire body. “I don’t know! I did want to sleep in, and it’s so not fair, but then I smelled something delicious... so then my stomach growled at me, like you do, and then I couldn’t get back to sleep.”

Iwaizumi turned to glare at Tooru for his remark about him, but otherwise remained mum as he went back to work. “Well, watch something on your laptop?” He asked. “I still have to make the tamagoyaki, and the rice has only just been put on,” he said as he dropped in his previously prepared vegetables into the pot, stirring the broth for a bit before he moved to grab a bowl that sat next to Tooru. “You really don’t need to just stand there...”

That prompted a laugh from Tooru and he nodded. “Okay, okay Iwa-chan, I get it. I’ll go wait,” he said, but pouted some more before he fully left the kitchen anyway. He did at least do as was suggested and grabbed his laptop. However instead of watching videos, he began to search for places he intended on visiting for his birthday. “Ah, um, hey, Iwa-chan? Do you mind if we check out the science square after visiting the space center?" When Iwaizumi merely grunted, he continued to click away hunting for what else he would like to do.

Eventually Iwaizumi set a tray down beside him, before he went to sit down across from Tooru at their small table. For Tooru's birthday breakfast, Iwaizumi had prepared miso soup, rice, tamagoyaki, steamed vegetables and a small bowl of strawberries. Tooru beamed brightly at his friend whose face had gone red, but a small smile was returned to him all the same.

Once they finished breakfast, they were quick to get ready for their day out. The race to catch the bus to the space center was frantic to say the least, since Tooru had taken his time on choosing what to wear. While they caught their breaths, they managed to find empty seats for themselves. “Seriously, what you had on the first time was fine!” Iwaizumi said, grumpily and full of ire. The other man simply stuck his tongue out in reply which earned him a jab to the arm. Needless to say, Tooru responded with an undignified squawk.

For the duration of the ride, Tooru found himself filled with gladness that the strange air that had been following him and Iwa-chan around as of late seemed to have dissipated a bit. His birthday was always the best when he got to spend them with best friend and he would absolutely have hated if his nineteenth lead to an unpleasant memory.

His thoughts led him into the memory of one particular birthday wherein his parents had brought him and Iwaizumi on an excursion around Sendai.

_Their first stop had been the Yagiyama Zoological Park. Tooru’s parents had a tough time keeping him and Iwaizumi from racing to each new animal. “But Mom,” Tooru drawled, “We’ve stared at the bears enough already,” He whined. “I want to see the elephants now.”_

_When they reached the primates, there had been an impressive looking gorilla there. Tooru noticed that Iwa-chan spent a long time frowning at the creature, and meant to ask why, but his dad urged them to continue on their path. He glanced between his friend and the animal once more before they left._

_The Japanese macaques were certainly a boisterous bunch which had gotten the two easily susceptible young boys riled up in turn. After that visit, Tooru’s parents insisted that they go eat, much to the younger ones’ dismay._

_After the reptile show, and having successfully visited the last of the animals within the zoo that Tooru wanted to see, they left to head to the Anapanpan museum and mall. Sometimes Iwaizumi made fun of Tooru for him still liking the character, but he ended up having just as much fun as the other boy once they arrived. He even bought Tooru a small keychain from the gift shop._

_It was there that they had gotten themselves stuffed full with all of the eateries within the mall. However, the prospect of gyutan revived them and they were quite adamant that they could definitely have more to eat._

_Before the last stop, they decided to make an impromptu stop at one of the local parks. There, they raced around and even managed to play a game of volleyball with another group of kids that were playing in the park. The fresh air really done them some good, and eventually they were ready to visit the Astronomical observatory._

_The exhibition room left Tooru wide-eyed. He wound up pointing at every single thing he saw, explaining to his parents and Iwa-chan what it was. They spent a fair bit of time around the exhibit of the moving model of the solar system, with Tooru happily regaling his party each planet’s trajectory._

_Both he and Iwaizumi were impressed with the giant telescope on display. “Imagine how much we could see if we could look out of that, Iwa-chan.”_

_“Yeah...” Iwaizumi nodded, his eyes wide and awed._

_However, the best part for everyone had been the planetarium. They all simply stared above themselves as they watched the stars twinkle and shine, barely listening to the guide who pointed out particular items of interest. It didn’t matter much as Tooru had shaken Iwaizumi’s arm and muttered enthusiastically in his ear about some of the constellations that had appeared. On the whole, with the relaxing music and dim lighting, it left the group rather relaxed._

_After a quick peek into the souvenir shop and a mini telescope later, they went back home. Tooru didn’t recall much after that except that Iwa-chan spent the night afterwards because both boys had fallen asleep during the ride back._

After he successfully dragged Iwaizumi around both the space center and throughout science square (truly, the robots were the peak of innovation), Tooru insisted that they go to a karaoke place.

Despite his initial grumblings, Iwa-chan allowed himself to be pulled along by his wrist anyway. Their supposed dinner was light due to this, but since they ate at various street vendors along the way, it boded no issue for them.

Tooru was quick to demand that Iwaizumi absolutely had sing at least one song with him. It ended up being more like four.

“Okay! Seriously, that’s the last one Oikawa,” Iwaizumi huffed and slumped into his seat, throwing his microphone down. “Also, we shouldn’t stay much longer. We do still have morning practice tomorrow you know.”

“Ah, Iwa-chan, you really need to quit with these motherly tendencies of yours,” Tooru remarked as he searched for another song.

Despite the warning from his friend, they ended up leaving the karaoke place some time just before midnight. Needless to say, despite their active lifestyle, both were quite exhausted by the time they got home. “Don’t be a big baby in the morning when we have to wake up either. I’ll hit you,” Iwaizumi mumbled, his tone lacking its usual bite from him being so tired.

“Always so mean, Iwa-chan.” Tooru chuckled lightly, stumbling his way toward his bedroom. “Thanks for today,” he said, stopping and turning around to face the other, his smile sleepy but genuine.

“Er, yeah... no problem,” Iwaizumi answered, rubbing the back of his neck. His cheeks were dusted with pink, which turned Tooru’s smile into a fond one. “Um, hope you had fun and all that.” After an awkward shuffling of feet, he coughed. “Anyway, uh, good night,” he finished before he tousled Tooru's hair and made a prompt escape to his room.

Tooru sighed wistfully before he plodded the rest of the way to his bedroom and collapsed onto his bed. He barely managed to kick off his socks before he fell asleep.

~0~

The volleyball team decided to cease practice for the remainder of the term, due to most wanting to focus on their exams, for which Hajime was grateful. While practice certainly provided a nice break between all the book grinding, he was aware that he did need to do as well as he possibly could in his classes, due to the fact that he had a partial scholarship that played a hand in allowing him to attend Tsukuba University in the first place.

He joined a study group which helped a lot for the most part, as long as all of the members shared the same amount of dedication. In any case, it provided him an excuse to get out of the apartment at the very least to meet up elsewhere. Truly, studying in the same cramped space for hours on end couldn’t be good for anyone.

Still, most nights both he and Oikawa were up late pouring over their notes, books, assignments and whatever else they were able to get their hands on. Such as now, their textbooks were spread out over their eating table next to the kitchen that sat on the edge of their small living area. They kept knocking into each other, which often lead to a glare or an annoyed huff. There really was not enough space at times. However, studying separately in their bedrooms would have meant having to do so on their beds (since they both lacked desks) and the possibility of falling asleep was too high.

Hajime rubbed his temples before letting out a long sigh and pushed himself up from his cushion on the floor. “I’m getting something to drink, want anything?”

“Just water, thanks.” Oikawa mumbled, not even looking up from his book.

Hajime got himself a sports drink before he grabbed a bottle of water for Oikawa. He tossed it to him on his way back to his seat. Oikawa caught it easily. In fact, he hadn’t even batted an eye, not bothering to lift his gaze from his studies. Once firmly back into position, Hajime found that this scene was rather reminiscent of their lives only just a few months prior to now.

_Oikawa had asked Hajime over to his house about a week after they had taken a mock university entrance exam, in the middle of November. After they lost their chance to represent Miyagi in the Spring High, the third years the Seijou volleyball club had retired and shifted their focus onto their studies. For Hajime and Oikawa, who were both in university prep classes, this meant they had many late nights studying arduously, until exhaustion made them fall asleep._

_As Hajime flipped through his literature notes, he felt Oikawa's eyes upon him. It had been that way as of late. Oikawa always seemed to be on the verge of asking a question before he would think better of it. As Oikawa’s best friend, Hajime had a fairly good idea as to what he wanted to ask. However, since he himself had not wanted to broach that particular subject, he never made any motion to prompt Oikawa to speak his mind. He still had no desire for the topic, so he continued to avoid the other’s intense gaze._

_Eventually Oikawa heaved out a large sigh, somewhat agitated before he pushed his current textbooks off the table and sprawled himself forward. “Watch it, you’re hitting my stuff,” Hajime muttered, still intent on not looking up at him._

_“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa said, his tone light, a question very pointedly on the horizon. “You haven’t told me which universities you’re trying for.” At that Hajime eyebrows furrowed and his mouth slanted downwards, but he remained quiet otherwise. “You must be going for a national one, right? With all this studying...”_

_When Hajime attempted to ignore him, the other promptly started to poke at him with his pencil. This resulted in Hajime throwing his eraser at the pest in response. “Knock it off!”_

_“Well, you didn’t answer!”_

_“Tch, well, I am trying to study here.”_

_“More like you’re avoiding the question,” Oikawa snipped as he crossed his arms. “Why won’t you just tell me?”_

_It was Hajime’s turn let out an exaggerated exhale. He finally laid down his pencil. When he looked up, his eyes appeared vacant and resigned. “Do... Do you really think I could get into a national university?” He asked quietly, before he glanced away. “Ah, no that’s probably unrealistic right? I mean, I’d end up a ronin for sure.” The short dejected laugh that followed resonated throughout the room._

_Oikawa looked as though a sharp object pierced straight through his heart for how shocked and pained his expression turned. “W-what? Don’t be ridiculous Iwa-chan! Of course you can!” When he received an indulgent smile from Hajime, he huffed, indignant and sat up straighter. “I’m serious!” He continued, his voice going shrill momentarily, before he coughed and continued, “I just... why are you acting like you don’t have anything to offer?” He pressed on, his gaze fierce as he waited for Hajime to reply._

_Hajime’s hand clenched into a fist over the table. The corner of his mouth twitched before he closed his eyes. He looked for all the world, the epitome of defeat._

_It was then that Oikawa realised just how much their most recent loss affected Hajime, who had always been so resilient before. “Hajime...” He reached across the table with his own hand and tentatively stroked his thumb on the back of Hajime's hand. When he wasn’t brushed away, he continued with the soothing action. “Well, you know, I’ve been looking at some universities in Tokyo, or well a lot in the Kanto region in general. There are quite a few that have some impressive credentials in regards to volleyball.” Oikawa watched as Hajime’s brows knit together, but he was definitely listening to him, “and ugh, I know Tohoku is already here in Miyagi, but **he’s** probably going to go there, and quite frankly, he still pisses me off.” Oikawa’s hand settled fully over Hajime’s by this point, and when he squeezed it, the other finally looked up at him. “Of course, a fair bit that I’ve been looking into are private, but well, they’re really impressive, like Chuo and Hosei.”_

_“Oikawa...”_

_“I’m just saying... there are options, Iwa-chan. I mean, what about Nippon? I mean, think of all its famous athletes that it can claim for alumni!”_

_Here Hajime began to bite on his lower lip. His brows finally unknit themselves and he murmured, some what quietly at first, “Well, um... actually... I was ah, looking at Tsukuba...”_

_Oikawa gasped, unable to contain his excitement. “Eh?! Really? You’re serious? That’s actually one of my top picks! Iwa-chan! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” He cried out and his arm which earned him a slap back._

_“A-ah, well, I know it hasn’t won a championship in awhile but... I dunno.” Hajime shrugged, his cheeks tinted red as he stared up at the ceiling, away from Oikawa._

_“Well!” Oikawa chirped brightly. “That just means Tsukuba’s team needs some new blood, perhaps from Miyagi,” he finished, a playful wink following soon after. It earned him an eyeroll from Hajime. “It’s true!”_

_Hajime burst into laughter. Oikawa squawked at him, scandalized, but eventually devolved into laughter with him soon after. The aura around Hajime lightened, thanks to Oikawa, and he found that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to aim higher, to aim as high as he possibly could in fact._

As Hajime finished the last of his drink, a smile slipped past his lips. It captured Oikawa’s attention. “Why are you smiling? Have you finally lost it from studying too much?” He asked, before he picked up his phone to check the time. “Wah! No wonder! It’s three in the morning!”

“Shit! Really?!”

At once both promptly scrambled to their feet, hastily piling up their textbooks and putting away their notes. When they paused to look at one another, they both chuckled with amusement before bidding each other goodnight.


	4. The Monsoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so the bad weather finally strikes, but with it a revelation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh another chapter. So exciting.

Tooru found himself surrounded by a crowd of girls, despite having arrived alone to his chosen cafe for lunch. He didn’t mind. In fact, he was quite flattered that they still wanted to talk to him, even during summer break. As he entertained them, his volleyball captain Takanashi walked into the joint. He spotted Tooru and nodded his head in greeting, so he gave him a victory sign.

He thought Takanashi was simply going to leave once he got his order, instead he walked over to Tooru and greeted the surrounding girls. “Hey, you’re not doing anything tonight are you?”

“Eh? No, nothing in particular,” Tooru answered as he tilted his head.

“Great. The team’s having a bit of a party at Kaze’s place. He lives in Joso; you can get there easily enough using Kenkyugakuen station,” Takanashi said before he pulled out his cell phone, “Here, I’ll give you the details.” He gestured for Tooru to do the same. After the quick exchange he continued, “Iwaizumi hasn’t responded yet, but I really want the whole team there, and well, actually I might’ve invited a few people specifically for Iwaizumi to meet.”

At that Tooru’s eyes widened in surprise, his mouth even falling open. “What’s this? Captain don’t tell me you’re trying to play matchmaker with Iwa-chan!” 

Takanashi laughed and shook his head. “Nah, nothing like that. I don’t know him well enough do anything as crazy as that, Oikawa. Anyway, since I know you two are room mates and all, can you let him know?”

“Sure, sure! No problem. I’ll make sure he comes,” Tooru replied, waving his hand in the air as though it were truly nothing.

“Great, I’m counting on you then.” Takanashi waved before he headed out the door.

“Ooh, a party! How exciting Oikawa-san,” one of the girls chirped. The others giggled and nodded their agreement.

“Indeed.” Oikawa smiled indulgently. “But it seems I need to find Iwa-chan, so if you beautiful ladies will excuse me.” He bowed his head and presented the girls with his most charming smile, making them flutter in delight. “Thank-you very much for keeping me company. My lunch was most assuredly enhanced by having such lovely ladies for company,” he finished before he inclined his head once more and exited the cafe.

Much like Takanashi said, Iwaizumi wasn’t answering his texts or phonecalls. Tooru left him three voicemails and several texts already without nary a response at all. He couldn’t possibly be back at the apartment since he had left only just before Tooru himself had. Perhaps he was meeting up with that Ishida again. The thought made his face scrunch up in distaste. Despite Iwaizumi and Ishida’s relationship having been cleared of the confusion from before, Tooru couldn’t help but still feel wary about her.

Unsure of what to do, he took to walking around town. He managed to reach one of the many parks within Tsukuba, his path straying inwards and lined by giant trees that shaded him from the rays of the sun. As Tooru played on his phone, he began to hum and whistle to himself before he eventually stumbled upon a scattering of picnic tables. He stopped in his tracks as he noticed one on the patrons seated at a table in the middle. Iwaizumi’s spiky hair could be seen from the back, and he was not alone. Worse still, it was not Ishida who sat with him, but another guy! The sight made Tooru bristle. Just how many people was Iwa-chan meeting in Tsukuba anyway?! When did he get so popular? And more importantly, why was it that they were always being kept a secret?

As Tooru’s eyes narrowed at the pair several metres away from, his agitation grew. He realised that this wasn’t exactly a new anomaly to worry about.

_After he and Iwa-chan joined the volleyball club in elementary school their ostracization from the other students had dissipated. While it was true that the other boys still had some issues with Tooru, they had instantly flocked to Iwaizumi, always with proclamations of how cool he was._

_Envy rose up in Tooru at how easily Iwaizumi made friends once he dropped his walls and let down his defences. More than that however, jealousy reared its ugly head and stormed through him. It made him panic that his only friend was about to be whisked away by the crowd, that he would be traded in for multiple friends instead of one often annoying one. Tooru clung on more tightly then, never leaving Iwaizumi’s side. He was intent on fighting for his spot if he had to._

_“Iwa-chan!~” He was sure to call out to him during every break, ensuring that Iwaizumi ate lunch only with him. “Iwa-chan!” Tooru’s voice rang out as he sidled up beside Iwaizumi, a pompous smirk in place, volleyball in hand. “It’s time for practice!” He said as he led Iwa-chan away from a group of boys who were inviting him to play a game of baseball out in the field._

_Once they entered middle school, Tooru’s own popularity increased along with his talent on the court. Still, it was only ever with the girls, and while he certainly did not mind the attention, perhaps even thrived on it, Iwaizumi was an instant hit amongst their team and classmates. Their juniors, once they both advanced in years had even taken to a particular idolization of Iwa-chan, much different from the one Tooru faced with his fans._

_That continued even to the end of high school. While Tooru could claim to be a bit of celebrity, it was Iwaizumi that everyone got along with best. However, as both of their focus was zeroed in on volleyball, he didn’t need to worry too much as Iwa-chan appeared to just roll with the punches as it were. Plus, any new attention from outsiders quickly shifted to Tooru himself, particularly when he became captain of such a top tier team and was often regarded as the best setter in the prefecture. He was quite content to absorb the admiration._

_Of course, it was always Iwaizumi who made sure that Tooru didn’t anger everyone in the prefecture either. It was thanks to him that Tooru didn’t tarnish his image amongst his fans, despite the interviews where the more shoddy parts of his personality slipped out, due to Iwaizumi actively asking the respective parties to dismiss his questionable comments. So while he definitely had concerns that one day Iwa-chan might find a better best friend, they were usually chased away by Iwaizumi himself, through his actions and with the gruff way he insisted that Tooru take better care of his body._

Tooru stood up straighter, his phone gripped tightly in his hand as he sauntered over to the picnic table Iwaizumi was sitting at. “Yoo-hoo~ Iwa-chan!” He called out as he got near, ignoring the groan emitted from his target. “Ah, you didn’t tell me you had more than _one_ friend, Iwa-chan,” he said as he placed a hand on the table, leaning into his space as he scanned the man across from him, his smile predatory as he took him in fully.

“Oh, a friend of yours Iwaizumi?” The other man assessed Tooru before he glanced back to Iwaizumi. When he received reluctant confirmation he returned his gaze back towards Tooru. “I’m Matsuba,” he explained as he flicked a strand of hair out of his eyes. “May I inquire as to your identity?”

Tooru’s smile tightened as he nodded, waving his free hand lightly. “Oh, of course! How rude of me, I’m Oikawa Tooru. I’m Iwa-chan’s roommate and best friend for life!” He added with an air of pompousness. “Right Iwa-chan?” He said as he suddenly dropped himself over said friend, earning a grunt and a lazy swat.

“Get off dumbass, it’s too hot,” Iwa-chan responded as he pushed at Tooru, who pouted but managed to seat himself more gracefully at the table.

“So!” Tooru gave a falsely sweet smile as leaned across the table, “Since we’re _inquiring_ about things, I’d like to _inquire_ how you two know each other, hmm Matsuba-san?”

Matsuba sent a sharp smile right back across to him. “Ah, right. Well, simply put, Iwaizumi was a bit of a knight in shining armour and helped me pick up some of my fallen books one day, awhile back.” He turned fond eyes upon Iwaizumi whose face was stained with a markable blush and was having a bit of a coughing fit. “Oh dear, are you okay, Iwaizumi?” Matsuba asked, leaning across to place a hand over the prone man’s arm.

“Iwa-chan is made of sterner stuff!” Tooru replied for him, though he did pat his back, but his gaze challenged Matsuba all the while.

Eventually Iwaizumi waved them both off. “I’m fine. But... I just helped pick up some books, no need to make it sound so heroic,” he mumbled, his face still very red. “Anyway, why are you here, Oikawa?”

“Well, actually I was looking for you!” Tooru grinned. “You weren’t answering my texts or calls, and apparently not our captain’s either!” He explained and gave his friend a reproachful frown, wagging his finger. “Bad Iwa-chan! Anyway, we’re going to a party tonight.”

“Tonight?” Matsuba asked, his eyebrows raised. “Ah, but...”

“Actually, Oikawa, I’ve already made plans.” Iwaizumi rubbed at the back of his neck. “Also, what do you mean the captain’s messages?”

Tooru clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes dramatically for emphasis. “He’s the one who invited us! And, you have to forget your plans. The whole team is going Iwa-chan.”

“I’m sure your captain would be understanding if Iwaizumi already had plans, no?” Matsuba cut in.

Here, Tooru huffed and shook his head. “No way! Iwa-chan is coming to the party with me!” He groused as he linked his arm through Iwaizumi’s. “Besides, Takanashi said I _have_ to bring you Iwa-chan. The whole team _needs_ to be there. Plus,” Tooru paused for a moment, deliberating whether he should divulge the next part, chewing on his lip for a beat and then continued, “he said there are people he wants you to meet. Just check your texts! I’m sure that’s all in there,” he finished and urged for Iwaizumi to take out his phone.

“Ah...” Iwaizumi muttered as he scanned through his messages. “Um, sorry Matsuba. I think I really am gonna have to go with Oikawa after all. Seems our captain is adamant about it.”

“Oh, well another time then,” Matsuba said, his shoulders slumping slightly. “Ah! But do be sure to tell me all about it!” He smiled before giving Iwaizumi a wink as he pushed himself up from the bench in one fluid motion. “Your first party here after all!”

“Right, I will.” Iwaizumi waved a little haphazardly.

Meanwhile Tooru’s wave was cheery and swift, his expression triumphant as he watched Matsuba slowly exit the park.

~0~

Hajime found himself hanging out in the backyard of his team mate Kaze’s house. A full blown party bustled around him and he was privy to seeing different sides to his team that he sort of wished he never had to discover in the first place. Still, the music was enjoyable and he met a couple of new people since his arrival to the sudden bash.

Oikawa for his part, seemed to be enjoying himself a fair bit more. He was currently engaged elsewhere within the house, having found a semi-secluded corner and was in the midst of wooing some girl. Or perhaps he was really just talking about volleyball and the girl was simply being polite. It could be hard to tell sometimes, even for Hajime. It still didn’t stop the jabbing pain in his gut though. Hajime exhaled slowly before he popped the lid off of his drink and took a swig.

As his gaze returned to the people congregating outside, someone took the chance to settle down beside him. Hajime managed an awkward smile and a tilt of his head. “Er, hey.”

“You’re Iwaizumi?” The guy asked, his gelled-back dark brown hair coming loose, likely from it being so late in the day. Hajime nodded, which earned him a grin. “Ah, good. Takanashi urged me over here.” He laughed. “I’m Morisawa,” He explained, his smile easy and light.

“Oh. Um, nice to meet you,” Hajime said before the two clinked their drinks together.

Eventually he learned why Takanashi wanted him to meet Morisawa. Pleasantries and idle chit chat cleared out of the way, Hajime broached the topic. “Well, see, I’m like you,” Morisawa said, then took a drink of his beer. “You know,” he leaned in to whisper at Hajime’s ear, his breath ghosting against his hair. “The whole liking guys thing.” He pulled away, mused to himself for a moment before he continued, “just, uh, you know, you’re not alone, I guess?” He concluded with a chuckle.

Hajime swallowed, nodded and sipped at his drink. “Ah. Right, okay,” he mumbled, his ears burning but somehow he still felt lighter. “Thanks.”

The pair descended back into friendly conversation. Hajime’s gratitude towards Takanashi grew with each minute that passed as Morisawa was easy to speak with. His laid-back demeanour allowed for Hajime himself to relax and ease into the party atmosphere more fully.

However, a sudden weight against his side interrupted him and Morisawa. “Iwa-chan, there you go making new friends again,” Oikawa said, a whine high in his voice. He leaned forward to peek at Morisawa, his lips settled into an adorable moue, his body still quite firmly pressed into Hajime’s. “It’s funny isn’t it Iwa-chan? You weren’t always so great at making friends!”

“Shut-up Oikawa,” Hajime grunted and attempted to nudge Oikawa away, who very woefully ignored the hint.

“Eh? Really? Is that true?” Morisawa asked, his expression sceptical as he appraised Oikawa from the other side of the bench, making no comment on anything else. “That’s rather hard to believe.”

Oikawa laughed, a fake one by Hajime’s estimation, and dread slowly clawed its way through his skin. “It’s true though! Everyone was always afraid of Iwa-chan! His terrifying expression kinda gets stuck on his face, you know?” He answered and pinched Hajime’s cheek, getting his hand slapped away. “Not to mention reactions like that. Always such a brute,” he huffed as he rubbed at his hand and stuck out his tongue.

“Did that girl reject you? Why are you over here bothering me?” Hajime asked bluntly. He shifted away, nearly making Oikawa topple off the bench.

“Rude!” Oikawa cried out, his nose high in the air. “For your information she had to leave since she had work early in the morning. I did get her email though.” He smirked smugly. “Anyway, I was just checking up on you Iwa-chan! I had to make sure you don’t embarrass yourself. You know like that time in junior high when we had the training camp and you woke up the whooooooole team with your girlish scream? What was your dream about again? Oh right! Go-gkk! Ow!” Oikawa clutched his head from where Hajime had hit him.

“Ugh!” Hajime kicked at Oikawa after having finally gotten him off of his person successfully. He stood up and stalked off, leaving both him and Morisawa before he headed inside.

He made it to the living area and took a seat in the corner. When offered a drink from one of his team-mates, he politely refused it for the time being, still fuming and not wanting to make a mess of himself. The urge to just slam the whole thing down was far too overwhelming.

His aggravation did not lessen however, as each time Hajime began to enjoy himself, or rather enjoy another person’s company, his asshole best friend would soon pop up. Oikawa would either draw attention onto himself or simply tell some horrendous story that Hajime sorely wished hadn’t contained any shreds of truth to them.

It really pissed him off that this behaviour was something he was used to.

_The first time he noticed he and Oikawa were still just boys. While he initially found it strange, he was also slightly pleased. Hajime took it as a sign that Oikawa really cared about him and treasured their friendship as much as he did._

_However, there were times when that felt far from the case. Instead he had a hard time deliberating whether Oikawa simply was upset that someone else was ‘using’ his favourite toy or if he was actually afraid to lose his best friend. Other times he got the impression that Oikawa simply did not want him to receive any attention at all, though Hajime could never figure out why._

_Of course that was nothing compared to his other tactic of insulting Hajime’s other friends with snide comments, or rude remarks much like he did with Hisao. Or that one incident with the captain of the baseball club._

_“Eh, was that Shikaku? The captain for the baseball team you were speaking with Iwa-chan?” Oikawa asked, his gaze sharp as he eyed said boy across the field._

_“What? Oh, yeah. He was trying to get me to join again.”_

_“Is that so?” Oikawa laughed and waved his hand in amusement. “Persistent little beast isn’t he? Oh, did you know, I seen his girlfriend up in the crowd at one of our games? She even came to greet me after too! Do you think he knows?” Oikawa tapped his chin, feigning thoughtfulness. “Ah, I should tell him, don’t you think?”_

_“Hah?! Your personality really is horrible. You're such a shitty bastard,” Hajime growled before he took off and began his pre-practice run._

_“Eh?! Why?” Oikawa called out to him, his voice high with an oncoming wail._

_While it was in these instances that a genuine argument was prone to break out between them, it nearly always ended with Hajime being the one to apologize. It wasn’t due to guilt for ignoring Oikawa for a few days or anything, but rather he simply got tired of the dejected sighs, dramatic and overzealous whining during practices that drove him crazy. Oikawa always seemed to take the fights a lot harder than he ever did, and so Hajime took that to mean he had to be the one who came crawling back._

_He much preferred their arguments over volleyball over the ones that involved all of those other nebulous feelings that often led to more confusion._

Hajime retreated into a mostly empty hallway, giving up on trying to socialize. He sat with his knees slightly curled, his head resting against the wall, exhausted from all of his attempted interactions. He let out a long aggrieved sigh before he closed his eyes.

“You shouldn’t fall asleep in hallways Iwa-chan,” Oikawa chided, his voice lighthearted, which made Hajime scowl. “Ah, your face will get stuck like that, then what?”

“Fuck off,” Hajime grunted before he pushed himself up, about to walk past before a hand wrapped around his arm. “What.”

“You’re mad,” Oikawa said, his eyes doing that thorough scan of a person that raised the hackles of anyone unfortunate enough to be caught on the other side of it.

“I’m not.” Hajime pulled his arm out of Oikawa’s grasp. His voice was tired and his chest heavy as he attempted to leave the hallway again. He was stopped once more. “Dammit, stop that! I thought I told you to fuck off. Just leave me alone.”

Oikawa leaned in instead, his forehead resting against Hajime’s making him draw in a sharp breath. “But it’s a party and you’re not having fun.”

An eye twitch. A grinding of teeth. Two fists furled and unfurled. That was all that passed before Hajime’s patience snapped. “Oh, and I wonder why that is?!” His mouth was barely able to contain his snarl as his chest heaved. “Every damn time I even look like I might be enjoying myself, some asshole comes along and ruins it!”

Oikawa drew himself back, a hand over his chest and his expression offended. “I only wanted to meet the people Iwa-chan found so interesting! I didn’t realise that was such a crime in your eyes.”

“Bull shit.” Hajime clicked his tongue, incredulous at how Oikawa attempted to paint himself. “Like you don’t always fucking do this! What’s your deal anyway? Go on, tell me,” he said and moved to get into Oikawa’s space, his anger now pulsing out in waves. “Are you such an egomaniac that you can’t stand to let your best friend have any sort of attention?”

“W-what?!” Oikawa squaked indignantly, his cheeks flaring red as he narrowed his eyes. “Of course not! I can’t help it if I’m so much more interesting than Iwa-chan!” He crowed before he straightened himself up to his full height, purposefully looking down his nose at Hajime. His expression shifted from disgruntled and stricken to a calm fury that barely contained his scorn. “Perhaps you ought to deal with that insecurity of yours, hm?” Oikawa smirked, his voice dripping with derision, “besides it’s hardly my fault that others find me so charming and prefer my company to yours, you know! Maybe you should stop being so scary and people will actually stick around!”

“Y-you!” Hajime couldn’t speak. His throat seized shut. In fact, his whole body vibrated as he staggered back at his supposed best friend’s audacity. “I can’t believe you just...” He turned away from Oikawa, unable to continue and stormed forward heading for the door. The need to get out of the house fuelling him.

“A-ah, wait! Iwa-chan!” Oikawa’s footsteps followed after him, before Hajime felt him reaching out. He slapped his hand away. “Iwa-chan! W-wait, I didn’t-”

“Don’t!” Hajime turned, his eyes flashing with anger that made Oikawa lean away. “Just. Don’t.” He said before he hastily slipped on his shoes and left out the door. The sound of the party slowly ebbed away as he raced toward the train station, angry tears began to burn at the edges of his eyes.

~0~

Tooru stood stock still in his teammate’s house, his arms hanging uselessly in the air. He finally allowed them to drop before he retreated back into the party, the dull thumping of the music beating in his ear. He wandered outside, unaware of the many eyes that watched him pass. As he leaned against a fence and looked up at the night sky, Takanashi came to join him.

Takanashi remained silent for awhile, looking up at the sky too before he eventually turned to face Tooru. “Mind telling what happened in there?”

While he waited, Tooru chewed on his bottom lip and tugged at the hem of his shirt. It took a few more minutes before he finally relented and explained to Takanashi about how he might have made a bit of a pest of himself. Told him he wasn’t sure why his mouth never stopped the verbal diarrhea even when he desperately wanted it to. He further delved into how he just selfishly wanted all of Iwaizumi’s attention, even if that meant at times igniting his ire.

“You do realise your methods are terrible right?” Takanashi raised an eyebrow. “What are you going to do if there comes a time you go too far? I’m sure you’re aware that there are those who wouldn’t mind whisking him away. Some might be closer than you think,” he finished, voice calm as he his gaze shifted back up to the sky.

“W-wait... you... don’t mean... you... Captain?” Tooru frowned, eyed Takanashi, attempting to pry more information out of him with just his stare.

A sigh slipped past Takanashi’s lips followed closely by a rueful smile. He didn’t answer the question, instead shifting the conversation elsewhere. “Listen Oikawa, I hate to rush an apology or whatever, not giving you both time to cool off or whatever it is you do, but our training camp is coming up and the team has no time for drama within.”

“W-what are you saying?” Tooru swallowed, his eyes wide.

“I’m saying get your ass in gear. Go home, sort out your issues. Properly. Otherwise you’ll both be sitting out of the camp, which is pretty essential for the fall league games.” Takanashi’s tone was firm and his expression serious as he looked upon Oikawa, who nodded jerkily before stumbling his way through the remaining crowd of the party.

Once he exited Kaze’s house successfully, he looked around and grabbed his phone since he needed to check for the way to get to the station that would take him back to Tsukuba.

His footsteps shuffled urgently against the pavement as he headed toward the station. He was about a block away when he spotted a park. Something made him stop, turn towards it instead of heading back home. Tooru knew the sensible thing was to catch the next train, for surely Iwa-chan was nearly halfway there by now, but his feet compelled him further into the park.

That wasn’t the first time he experienced the sensation.

_There was another time during a thunderstorm when he was still a kid. He and Iwa-chan just began their friendship properly prior to the storm in the preceding spring of that year. In fact their first sleepover had only happened a week ago._

_Tooru was playing outside by himself and hadn’t seen Iwaizumi since their departure from one another after school. Despite the ominous clouds that signified he ought to go inside to avoid getting wet, he instead dropped his toys and left his yard. While he stopped in front of a nearly empty park for a beat, he quickly continued. Something urged him onwards, informing him that the park was not the destination he sought. Rain was pelting down on him by this point, but he carried on just the same. Half a block away Tooru came across a secluded clearing. It appeared to be an abandoned field. He walked into it, pushing past the tall grass. His fringe was wet and stuck to his forehead, obscuring his vision slightly._

_He eventually found a giant log which called out to him that this was what he was destined to find. Tooru crouched down and crawled inside. It turned out that he was not the only living being inside the log. Iwaizumi was curled into a ball, his head between his knees and it seemed that he was unaware of Tooru’s arrival. “Iwa-chan?” He called out to the other boy, voice quiet as he inched closer._

_Iwaizumi’s head snapped up, his eyes wide in alarm and perhaps even wet as he looked at Tooru. “O-Oikawa?”_

_"Mm!” Tooru beamed brightly at Iwaizumi, though it was hard to tell with the limited lighting within their shelter. “Whatcha doing in here Iwa-chan?” He asked as he settled himself down beside Iwaizumi, who was shivering. Initially Tooru thought he was simply cold, but when there was a sudden flash lightning and then the following sound of thunder, he realised why Iwa-chan hadn’t simply ran home. “Well, I guess we’re gonna be here for awhile huh?” He mused, leaning into Iwaizumi._

_When Iwa-chan didn’t answer him Tooru reached out to grab for the hand that had been clenched on his knee. He pulled it down to rest between them, allowing him for an easier hold. Tooru filled their time in the log with lighthearted chatter. He even shifted without complaint when Iwaizumi curled into him. Eventually he rested his head on Iwaizumi’s and started to hum, only stopping when the trembles had ceased._

_It took over an hour for the storm to let up enough for them to get home safely. Tooru had been in huge trouble when he arrived back home after he walked Iwaizumi back to own house first. However it was with great stride that he took his subsequent scolding and revoking of privileges, not being the least bit sorry for his actions as he was there for Iwa-chan in his time of need._

Tooru wandered his way around the park’s pathway until he found an occupied bench. The figure looked up in surprise and was rightfully unhappy to see him. Iwaizumi was about to get up and leave. “Iwa-chan wait! Please...” Tooru called as he stepped forward slowly. Iwaizumi stopped momentarily, his expression weary. “Hajime.”

Iwaizumi flopped back down onto the bench and waited for Tooru to take a seat beside him. They didn’t speak for quite awhile, the silence between them suffocating and enormous.

“You know what you said was out of line.” Iwaizumi spoke first, his voice tight but his body subdued as though Tooru’s words from the party were true. It was that sight that made Tooru almost reach out to pull Iwaizumi into his arms.

“I... I do know.” Tooru managed after a moment. He licked his lips, nervous as he fiddled with his fingers, stealing furtive glances at Iwaizumi. “I’m really sorry, Iwa-chan. I am.”

“Then why, Oikawa? I know that what you said about wanting to meet my possible new friends as idle interest was a lie. Do you think you’re being self-sacrificing and saving your ape of a friend who’s unsuited to the attention?”

“N-no!” Tooru cried out and leaned forward. His eyes belied his desperation. He barely stopped himself from grabbing onto Iwaizumi. “T-that’s not... I just...”

“Why?” Iwaizumi turned to face Tooru now. It was his turn to search his friend’s face for an answer; neither were sure if they were ready for him to discover it. “You’re just an attention hog?” Tooru shook his head frantically. “Then why? I just... please tell me why.”

“B-because I’m selfish that’s why,” Tooru answered; a bitter laughter followed. “That’s the simple, awful, horrible truth, Iwa-chan. I’m just plain selfish and I want you all to myself.” He looked up at Iwaizumi who sat back, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Iwa-chan?”

Iwa-chan’s eyebrows furrowed together, the pieces seemingly locking together for him, but he shook his head before he brought their gazes back together. “What do you mean? That you want me to yourself.”

Tooru made a distressed sound, shaking his head before he slouched forward. He kept his eyes away from Iwaizumi now. “I... I want Iwa-chan... I want to be Iwa-chan’s most important person.” A large drawn in gasp forced Tooru to look up. He was unable to read Iwaizumi’s expression at all. Did he want to cut all ties with him? Surely he did. “Iwa-chan?”

“You really are a dumbass,” Iwaizumi said before he promptly burst into laughter, hysterical and loud, startling Tooru.

“W-what?” Tooru stuttered and frowned, confused. “I’m being honest and you’re still insulting me,” he lamented, stopping when Iwaizumi curled into himself. He was unsure if was laughing or sobbing. “H-hey, Iwa-chan...” He reached out to grasp Iwaizumi’s shoulder, “are you okay?”

It took several minutes before Iwaizumi composed himself. He sat up, rubbed at his eyes and his face was full of splotchy red patches. His breathing finally settled down, he turned to Tooru. “I’m fine,” he said and grabbed the sides of Tooru's head, drawing him closer. “You’re a dumbass because you already are my most important person, always have been.”

Now it was Tooru who quivered and he reached up to rest his own hands over Iwaizumi’s, bringing them down to lie in his lap. He knocked their foreheads gently together as his breath stuttered its way between them. “You mean that you...?”

Iwaizumi smiled, his eyes twinkling from the moonlight that shined its way through the foliage above the bench. “Yeah, I do.”

They both laughed, cheer rippling through them as they continued to stay connected there on the bench in Joso. “D-does this mean that we can...? T-that we’re...?” Tooru murmured, his hands squeezing tightly around both of Iwaizumi’s, his eyes glistening some what.

“Yeah...” Iwa-chan answered. They smiled at each other, not moving and their hands still firmly entwined between them. Their eyes were brim full of so much affection, long hidden and long coming, that they remained like that, not caring even a little that they had surely missed at least two trains back to Tsukuba by now. Both were content to stay in their bubble of happy revelation for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else amused with the turmoil brought about from the bonus story from vol 17 of the manga?


	5. Never Been

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourselves for copious amounts of fluff.

Hajime trudged out of the bathroom stretching and rolling his shoulders as he padded his way to take a seat across from Oikawa at their table. He was absorbed with forming strategies he wanted to try with the team during their training camp. Hajime’s not sure how long Oikawa had been awake for, but he couldn’t really fault him as the temperature had spiked steadily throughout the week, making it impossible to sleep for very long.

So he said nothing as he settled himself into his cushion, picking up one of his stray folders that held his exams. Hajime meant to go through them and hopefully work on the areas he was weak in. They were silent for awhile, only the sounds of their combined breathing and pencil scratching against paper could be heard. However, eventually Oikawa broke the silence and leaned across the table. “Iwa-chan! You didn’t greet me a good morning, you know.”

“Good morning,” Hajime replied, not bothering to look up from his work.

Strangely, Oikawa didn’t say anything back and simply returned to his own side of the table once more. They continued to work like that until Oikawa again disturbed the silence. However his voice was now excited and he pushed a paper across to Hajime. “Iwa-chan, look, look!” Hajime indulged him and leaned across the table and his interest was instantly piqued as he seen Oikawa created a fairly amazing defence strategy against Chuo, one of their toughest opponents.

“Ah, have you figured out how to stop that attack?” Hajime’s eyes were alight as his lips curved upwards.

Oikawa walked him through his strategy, moving his pencil just above the paper and explained certain points with more detail. Hajime nodded along, thoroughly impressed by the end. So happy and proud, he thought nothing of it when he stretched his neck slightly to give Oikawa quick peck on the lips.

However once he pulled back, his cheeks flushed red. Hajime coughed and covered his mouth with his hand. “Um, good work,” he muttered before he completely sat back down, attempting to act as though nothing happened.

The night in Joso occurred only a little over a week ago and they had not completely settled into the new aspect to their relationship. Which was why Hajime attempted to ignore the way Oikawa stared at him with a dopey smile on his face. Unfortunately Oikawa’s entire face slowly turned red and his hand shook as he pointed accusingly across the table. “I-Iwa-chan! You kissed me! You really kissed me just then, right? Iwa-chan!”

“S-shut-up,” Hajime said, attempting to growl but it held no ire at all, as his own face simply flared ever brighter.

“But Iwa-chan was really cute just then,” Oikawa replied, voice shrill, before he placed his head in his hands, falling into the table and shook his head. “That’s really not fair at all! It’s too much. Too much!”

“B-be quiet!” Hajime hid his own face in his hands and groaned. He was definitely ready for the floor to devour him whole, or maybe he could just jump out the window. He mumbled more noises of distress, lamenting at his absent minded action, listening to Oikawa whining across from him.

Lost in their joint mortification, they barely heard Oikawa’s phone buzz. In fact, they didn’t realize it until the device actually vibrated off the table entirely. “Ah!” When Oikawa picked it up, he mentioned that he received a text. “Oh, Makki says they’ll arrive in about an hour!” Hajime glanced across the table and then suddenly both of their eyes went wide. “Ack! Iwa-chan! We have to get ready,” Oikawa shouted and stumbled his way off of his cushion, nearly face planting into the carpet.

They both rushed around cleaning up, then proceeded to get dressed in record time before they raced out the door to meet their friends at the station. It was with panting breaths that they made it to the station before Matsukawa and Hanamaki’s train arrived.

Within five minutes said train pulled in, crowds of passengers spilling out. Their friends were easy to pick out in large part due to their height. Hajime waved them over while Oikawa called out for them, “Makki! Mattsun! Over here!”

After they all properly greeted one another, Hajime and Oikawa led the way back to their apartment. Oikawa did most of the talking as he told the visiting pair about Tsukuba. While his friends would only visit for the weekend, Hajime found himself really happy at having more people from home, down here with him and Oikawa.

“Sounds like you’ve both settled in really well,” Matsukawa said with a small smile in place.

“Yeah, but they haven’t gotten into nearly enough trouble.” Hanamaki grinned and Oikawa stuck his tongue out him for his remark.

The friendly easy-going atmosphere reminded Hajime of the nights they had spent in their favourite ramen place.

_It became a bit of thing amongst the players in their year that they would say something like ‘serve a good one or you’re treating us to ramen.’ Though there were other instances in which ramen would end up their compensation._ _The first time, Hanamaki insisted that both Oikawa and Hajime were to treat him and the other (then) first years to ramen due to the fact that it was their fault that Coach Irihita made them run extra laps due their bickering. After that, other times sprung up. Whenever he or Oikawa were the ones paying a little too often, Hajime demanded that Hanamaki pay since he had lost their most recent arm wrestling match._

_One of the more memorable instances wherein Matsukawa was to pay occurred when he failed with the challenge of convincing the staff from another school that he was indeed a student from Aoba Johsai. “You guys totally set me up,” Matsukawa said as he slowly walked back, his hands firmly in his pockets._

_“Don’t be ridiculous Mattsun!” Oikawa shook his head. “I had complete faith in you, I’ll have you know!”_

_“By which he means it was totally his idea,” Hanamaki smirked, “The rest of us went along with it because we’re broke, and also hungry.”_

_“Which is why you’re the best blocker around,” Hajime continued after slapping Matsukawa’s back and steered him forward as they made their way back to the bus._

_Oikawa and Hanamaki nodded their agreement, which led to Matsukawa flipping them all off. That only made them break out into riotous laughter and earned them a scolding from their coaches for holding up the bus._

Once they arrived back to their apartment, Hajime informed his guests to leave their things in Oikawa’s room. “Hm? Is that where we’re sleeping then? Where is Oikawa going to be?” Matsukawa asked, tilting his head slightly. Slowly a smirk spread across his lips and he shared a knowing glance with Hanamaki who wore the same expression.

“Ooh, they’re gonna share a room too! But hey, don’t you think their faces are a little red? How interesting,” Hanamaki said, looking downright predatory.

“Well, so long as they remember that they do have company,” Matsukawa continued, hand on his hip as he glanced sidelong at Hanamaki, “I mean we didn’t sign up to stay at a love hotel after all.”

“Yeah,” Hanamaki’s smirk widened as he nudged Matsukawa, “as guests, we don’t want to be hearing suspicious noises.”

“What the- Shut-up you assholes!” Hajime spluttered, his face and ears florid.

Oikawa recovered quickly however and grinned before he gave a playful wink. “I make no promises!” That earned him a slap to back of his head. “Ow! Iwa-chan!”

“Ah, just like old times,” Matsukawa said as he nodded his head matter-of-factly before chuckling, Hanamaki already snickering beside him.

As Hajime bickered with Oikawa, in the back of his mind, he was glad that not everything had changed, and that despite whatever his annoyed expression might say, he was overjoyed to have his friends here with him. Their weekend would definitely be fun, of that he was absolutely certain.

~0~

With the temperature high, visitors gone and the training camp from hell over with, it called for a lazy day. Tooru wrangled Iwaizumi into his lap, pulling him down when he passed by earlier to get him to relax with him. In the midst of summer, they both lounged around in simple tank tops and shorts, sporting fresh tans from their countless hours spent outside during their camp. Iwa-chan’s was significantly darker though. Tooru was never quite able to capture an impressive tan. He was however grateful that he didn’t get sunburnt like he had the year before. His normally chestnut brown hair did sport some significantly lighter strands throughout though, which gave his hair even more depth. He still kept to same style. Why mess with what works?

Soft laughter buzzed between him and Iwa-chan as they murmured lightly to one another. Each small fleeting smile that adorned Iwaizumi’s lips had Tooru’s heart fluttering rapidly against his chest. His giddiness forced him into nuzzling Iwaizumi's neck and he settled his hands over his waist, pulling him even closer, glad that Iwa-chan was being compliant.

Slowly Tooru switched from nuzzling to press short barely there kisses to Iwaizumi’s lips. Iwa-chan’s eyes fluttered and settled halfway closed. From his position, Tooru could admire the freckles that had sprouted up over the bridge of Iwaizumi’s nose; the desire to kiss each one was dismissed as he instead pressed his lips more firmly against Iwa-chan’s. A furtive tongue darted out to run along the seam of Tooru’s lips which he took as an invitation to deepen the kiss, chasing away the last bit of chasteness between them.

Iwaizumi curled one of his hands into Tooru’s shirt in response to the tongue that slid its way into his mouth. Iwa-chan groaned at the sound of their loud smacking of lips and began to rock his hips slightly, pushing himself more firmly into Tooru. That garnered a moan from him, who had his hand on Iwaizumi’s hip and was now clutching on more tightly than before. “Mm, Iwa-chan...” Tooru panted against his mouth before he began to trail his kisses down Iwaizumi’s neck, scattering them along his jawline until he stopped to suck at his jugular, relishing in the way it pulsed beneath his tongue.

He was rewarded with small breathy gasps from his boyfriend. _His boyfriend_. Tooru really could not get enough of that thought. It urged him into licking a long wet stripe up along the arch of Iwaizumi’s neck before he moved to suck at his exposed clavicle. “Hn, Oikawa...” Iwa-chan grunted as he ground back against Tooru’s hands that found their way into gripping him from behind, kneading and prying all the while. He hissed as those same calloused hands brushed across his skin when they slid below the waistband of his underwear.

“Iwa-chan...” Tooru murmured, awestruck and compelled to leave his mark on Iwaizumi’s skin.

Unsurprisingly, it took a mere fraction of a moment for their breaths to quicken, growing heavy and urgent. Especially so when Tooru began to massage the muscled flesh his hands sought to claim. His fingers teased every so often between Iwaizumi’s cleft forcing him to rock his hips upwards, desperate for a different sort of friction.

They were lost in each other in what seemed to be no time at all. Fabric was pushed away or discarded entirely, proving nothing more than an annoying barrier to their combined desire. Near instantly they writhed, thrusted and arched into one another, sinking blissfully into an all out frenzy. Their breaths grew broken and damp. The sounds that broke out between them perverse, salacious and only made Tooru want more. In fact he was ready to take anything and everything he could get, for as long as he was able.

Eventually the minutes ticked by before they concluded by merging together, soaked in perspiration. Their combination one fuelled by passion and they climaxed almost in tandem with one another.

Afterwards, when they were both spent and caught their breaths, they exchanged sentimental confessions, the laughter from before returning and the happiness was further enhanced within the small room. Tooru couldn’t help but bury his face into Iwaizumi’s neck, a grin on his lips and tried to recall when he had ever been so happy.

_Strangely he was brought back to the time Iwa-chan had first given him a gift. They were out in a large field during a school trip. Their tour had finished and the students were free to run around to explore a little more thoroughly in certain areas of the farmland they were guests of._

_Iwaizumi instantly raced into the field and Tooru followed after him, watching as crickets, dragonflies and beetles took off into the air in his friend’s haste. The laughter that escaped from Iwa-chan was infectious and despite Tooru not knowing what he was amused with, he couldn’t help but laugh too._

_They chased after one another, a haphazard game of tag before they finally collapsed when Iwaizumi tackled Tooru into the ground. “Geh! That’s why you always need bandages Iwa-chan," he lamented and jabbed at a bandage strip that was adhered to Iwaizumi’s chin, “You’re too rough!” Tooru pouted and crossed his arms, but Iwa-chan simply snickered some more before he plopped himself down onto the ground._

_As they caught their breaths, they gazed up at the vast blue sky. The sun shone its rays down upon them, alighting a golden aura over the field. Tooru descended into delighted chatter and pointed up at the sky, wondering what the stars would look like without the suburban light pollution to chase them away._

_He was so caught up in his own contemplation that he didn’t notice that Iwaizumi wasn’t paying attention to him. At least not until he asked a question. “What do you think Iwa-chan?” When Tooru received no answer he turned his head and found that Iwaizumi had sat up and his back was facing him. “Eh? Iwa-chan! You aren’t even listening to me, how rude,” he cried out and he too sat up. He was about to lean over and see what Iwaizumi found so interesting when suddenly he turned around to face him again. “Gah!”_

_“Here,” Iwa-chan said, a handmade ring of stems with a clover at its center was pinched between his thumb and index finger, held out for Tooru to take, “my mom taught me how to make ‘em the other day.”_

_“Eh? Really, it’s for me?” Tooru asked, his eyes wide as he slowly reached out._

_“Of course it is. There’s no else around stupid,” Iwaizumi groused but his cheeks were red as he turned to look away from Tooru._

_“Mean.” Tooru frowned and then stopped his hand. “Well, Iwa-chan should be the one to put it on me. Isn’t that how it works?”_

_“Tch. How annoying.” Still, Iwaizumi done as suggested and gently slid the ring on Tooru’s finger. He barely had time to pull away before he was knocked back onto the ground with the crushing force of Tooru’s hug. “Gah! Now who’s the one who’s too rough!”_

Tooru rubbed absently at the finger his gifted ring had adorned all those years ago, smiling to himself. His head rested on Iwaizumi’s chest and he could feel puffs of air blowing at the tufts of his hair. He lifted his head to look up and was about to mention his cherished memory when he found that Iwa-chan had fallen asleep. That made him chuckle and so he returned to pillowing his head in its previous spot.

He let out a wistful sigh listening to the dull thumping of Iwaizumi’s heartbeat before his own eyes drifted closed. His vision went hazy before he too fell into an easy slumber joining Iwa-chan in a summertime nap.

~0~

September slipped past Hajime so fast that it was barely a blur at all. Most of the team’s fall league games took place during the month. Only two lone matches remained for October for the eleven that were scheduled.

If you told him before the first match took place that it would end up being the most difficult one they played, which was against Tokai, Hajime might have scoffed at you. Tokai had some very interesting first year players in their line-up. There was a spiker who looked like an owl and had topsy turvy mood swings. Plus a middle blocker with terrible bedhead (which left Hajime wondering how he could possibly see with one eye obscured by his hair). Indeed, Tokai proved to be quite the challenge with that strange pair and the rest of the roster consisting of accomplished senior players.

That match was one of their losses; the other was to Nippon. Oikawa’s strategy against Chuo proved to be a success and left the team rather elated that they broke their developing losing streak against them.

Now with his classes back in session and no more trips to Tokyo in regards to matches, Hajime’s life settled down a little bit. The team was still doing rigorous practices since they submitted their application to the All Japan intercollegiate lottery. If they were to be chosen, they would have a tournament to play in December.

Not to mention next month they had both the university festival and a sports day to contend with. So while there were definitely still events on the horizon that would no doubt eat up Hajime’s time, for the moment he was able to enjoy a small reprieve where he could meet up with his friends.

He and Oikawa were on their way to meet up with Katsumi and her girlfriend Fujiwara Fumiko. It was the first time that Oikawa and Fujiwara met, but as she was fellow volleyball player, Hajime was sure there would be no issues between them. He was still a bit wary about how things would go with Katsumi however, due to what had occurred when those two last met.

Still, he was rather optimistic. Oikawa had taken to calling this meetup a double date which sent butterflies instantly to Hajime’s stomach. It made him protest and deny the title despite the fact that he was quite pleased that his boyfriend viewed it that way.

“Ah, this is the place I think Iwa-chan,” Oikawa said, stopping in front of a busy restaurant. His long fingers wrapped around Hajime’s wrist and pulled him inside. “It is! I see Ishi-chan over there!” He pointed and waved which caused Hajime to slap at his arm. “Ow, just letting them know we’ve arrived Iwa-chan!” Oikawa pouted and huffed petulantly as they followed after a waiter who led them to their awaiting table.

After introductions and ordering food, conversation sprung up properly between the group.

“Iwa-chan tells me you’re the captain of the women’s team Fujiwara-san?” Oikawa prompted while he grabbed his plate of gyoza. He offered one to Hajime who declined, his attention currently on his own dish of agedashi tofu.

“Oh yes,” Fujiwara grinned and nodded, “You’re a setter right?” She asked before taking a bite of her curry.

“That’s right.” Oikawa beamed across the table at his fellow compatriot, descending into praise for her leading the women’s team to being undefeated in their league games. “It’ll be a crime against volleyball if you aren’t chosen for the All Japan.”

“I’ve signed myself up for hours of volleyball talk haven’t I?” Katsumi laughed and shook her head in exasperation.

“Afraid so, Ishi-chan,” Oikawa said, smirking and winking.

“Dumbass,” Hajime said and hit Oikawa lightly on the arm. “We can talk about other stuff. Er, sometimes,” he finished with a lopsided smile for which he earned a dab of soy sauce on his nose, courtesy of his bratty boyfriend.

After he wiped his nose and waved off the chuckling from Oikawa and the girls, Hajime found that the atmosphere brought him back to the times with Rumiko.

_Specifically, the times where he surprisingly did not end up feeling like a third wheel. Sure, initially it was a little awkward for him. His romantic feelings for the pair often made Hajime’s chest tighten uncomfortably, but his inclusion into aspects of Oikawa and Rumiko’s courtship hadn’t led to his importance dwindling in regards to his individual friendships with the both of them._

_“Ah, Iwaizumi-kun, you’re coming to the movies with us aren’t you?” Rumiko asked, her head resting lightly on Oikawa’s arm._

_“Oh, yes. Iwa-chan, you have to come!”_

_Hajime looked up from his lunch to frown at the couple. “What? Isn’t it a date?” He tilted his head and wrinkled his nose. “Why would I want to be a third wheel?”_

_Rumiko leaned across the table and shook her head. “But I need you there to tell me what Tooru-kun means when he explains the happenings of the movie.”_

_Oikawa gasped. “Hey!”_

_“Sorry, but sometimes I really don’t get what you’re saying at all. You’re always so excited. I usually just nod my head, but I really have no idea what you’ve said,” Rumiko explained and gave Oikawa an apologetic smile._

_Hajime laughed which earned him a reproachful glare from Oikawa, which he ignored. “Yeah, he does that sometimes.”_

_Despite his misgivings, Hajime agreed to go to the movies with them and in fact went to several more after that. It sort of became a thing between them, that when all three had free time that matched up they would take turns on choosing a movie to watch at the cinema. Often times they even went to dinner before or after. Even if Hajime was pining for both Oikawa and Rumiko, he nearly always had fun during these times._

_Their conversations amongst each other was lighthearted, effortless and enjoyable. A camaraderie forged between them all as they got more comfortable with one another. It was a strange bond for sure, but it did keep them connected during those times and allowed Hajime to be included without feeling pitied._

As the group left the restaurant, they decided that the next course of action should be karaoke. Kasumi was quick to issue a challenge to Oikawa, who readily accepted.

“Oh my, this is going to be interesting,” Furjiwara chuckled and nudged Hajime. Their respective partners traded taunts from the front as they travelled along the sidewalk. “Kat-chan is super competitive over karaoke.”

“Yeah? Oikawa is the sort to never back down,” Hajime smirked, “I think we’re gonna be in for a long night.”

“I think you’re right Iwaizumi-kun. We’ll just have to make sure to take lots of pictures," Fujiwara grinned wickedly, her hands clasped together behind her back. When Katsumi looked back in curiosity she waved merrily. “Make sure you win Kat-chan,” Fujiwara called out, her smile turning sweet.

“Oh, I intend to,” Katsumi replied, flipping her long hair.

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa stopped all movement.

“What?”

“You have to wish me luck too!”

“I’m rooting for Ishida-san,” Hajime said and laughed as Oikawa squawked indignantly at him until he instead had to support his weight. Oikawa draped himself dramatically over his back. “Ah fine.” Hajime sighed. “Ah, what is it you say? I’m counting on you.”

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa groaned and buried his face into the crook of Hajime’s neck, making the other couple laugh in amusement at them.

~0~

Tooru pushed the door open to Iwaizumi’s bedroom and found that he was still in his bed. “What’s this? Iwa-chan, get up already,” he called out before flopping onto the bed himself, bouncing it a little. “Come on,” Tooru tried again and lifted Iwaizumi’s arm that hid his head.

Iwaizumi however seemed wholly resistant on getting out of bed and facing the world. He just grumbled and turned away. He really ought to know better; Tooru was never one to give up. He did his level best to get Iwa-chan to interact with him properly. It seemed to have finally worked when Iwaizumi sat up. He rubbed at his eyes and glared at Tooru who just grinned triumphantly.

He didn’t fault Iwaizumi for wanting to spend the day in bed. They had just partaken in the university’s sports day, along with the clean-up the following day. It was an eventful day, what with the men’s team and women’s team competing against each other. The women won and so it was now the duty of the losers to treat the winners to a meal. The friendly match was not the only event Hajime was dragged into though. Much like other sports festivals, he had been invited to try out a lot of other events from the various teams. Not to mention word got out about his prowess with arm wrestling (by Tooru, actually).

Still, they had an agreement to uphold. They would most certainly be late if Iwa-chan didn’t get a move on and get dressed.

Just as Tooru made a noise of delight at his victory of gaining an upright Iwa-chan, he decided to simply flop forward right into Tooru, knocking him onto his back. That forced them both to grunt and Tooru began to flail under the extra weight. “Iwa-chan! You weigh a tonne! Get up, you’re squishing me,” he whined and batted his fists futilely against Iwaizumi’s shoulders. However he stopped all movement when he felt the tip of a nose press against his neck. Tooru coughed and attempted an amused laugh but it was quickly aborted as he realised that he was being nuzzled. Iwa-chan was nuzzling him. His brain could not compute the fact, not even as it happened to him. Tooru could barely breathe, let alone think.

“Um, Iwa-chan?” Tooru croaked out. He received a hum that rumbled against his adam’s apple, forcing a shiver out of him. “Aha...” In his stillness, Iwaizumi used the opportunity to nestle himself even closer and wrapped his arms around a stupefied Tooru. “Er... didn’t know you were this cuddly.”

While three months had passed since they had gotten together, Tooru found that there were still many aspects to Iwa-chan he previously had not known about. Such as the fact that if he was sleepy, Iwaizumi was prone to doling out affection by way of snuggling. On the whole, Tooru was rather surprised, albeit also extremely elated that Iwa-chan was not adverse to physical affection.

Iwaizumi lifted his head a little, his eyes were still hazy as he blinked slowly. “Mn. You’re warm,” he said, finally answering Tooru’s previous comment. Before he could respond with appropriate snark however, Iwa-chan pressed a kiss to his jawline, rendering him back into shock.

Okay, so it was more than just cuddling and random nuzzles. Should Tooru expect mumblings of sweet nothings next?

At a loss for what to do, Tooru simply gave in and wrapped his own arms around Iwa-chan. He took to rubbing circles along his broad back, though he still felt quite flustered about the whole ordeal. Really, it was so unfair. No one would ever believe him if he told them that Iwaizumi was affectionate while he was sleepy. Although, truthfully, Tooru barely believed it himself and he had actual proof there in his arms. Still, if only he could have reached for his phone. Well, at the very least he could tease Iwa-chan one-on-one about it. Or maybe he could just make a point of being around Iwaizumi whenever he happened to be in this mood and keep all the tenderness to himself.

Unable to draw the will to force Iwaizumi awake, Tooru settled himself more comfortably onto the bed. They could afford to be a little late, and in any case, he would just blame their tardiness on Iwa-chan.

While he basked in the moment, Tooru began to recall the sports day and its happenings before trailing off into the ones before. More specifically the one where Iwa-chan had been challenged quite heartily by Kyoutani.

_Their rough edged junior Kyoutani arrived to the volleyball club with a giant chip on his shoulder. For a kid with such impressive skills for a team sport, he most certainly was not a team player. Tooru wanted to utilize him on the court but the boy simply would not take direction at all and ignored any attempts at scolding him._

_Then suddenly during Seijou’s sports festival, a solution soon arrived. Iwaizumi participated in many events throughout the day, much like he usually did. Kyoutani had also partaken and was then promptly bested by his senior._

_The first happened out on the baseball field. The baseball club had their pitcher throw the ball for whomever was up to the challenge. Mad Dog definitely managed an impressive swing and initially had the longest distance prior to Iwa-chan arriving to the plate. Tooru was out in the crowd, chatting with some of his fans, issued his support for Iwaizumi. “Remember not to get mad if you miss, Iwa-chan!”_

_The ball went sailing across the field and would have earned Iwaizumi a home run for certain. He broke Kyoutani’s record. That was when Tooru noticed something seemed to have sparked within his younger team-mate._

_When it came time for the school wide marathon, Tooru watched with interest when it came down to the final leg of the race. While at the beginning it was neck and neck between Mad Dog and a member from the track club, Iwaizumi suddenly made his presence known. Once again Iwa-chan beat out their junior. Of course Iwaizumi was always a good sport, so he simply clapped Kyoutani on the back. Tooru worried for his well being._

_Instead of what Tooru expected, Kyoutani merely frowned and gave an awkward sort of nod, though his fists were clenched. Having been twice beaten by Iwa-chan, it came as no surprise when Mad Dog came up in the queue of people who wished to challenge Iwaizumi at arm wrestling._

_However, Iwaizumi hadn’t lost his title of arm wrestling champion that day either, despite Kyoutani’s best efforts._

_These losses seemed to have led to Kyoutani gaining respect for Iwaizumi. This proved beneficial to the team as there was now someone the unruly teen would listen to. However Tooru was slightly miffed that it was not himself. Really, why did he have to lose to Iwa-chan too?_

“Mmff,” Iwaizumi mumbled against Tooru, “Guh... what time is it?”

“Time for you to wake-up,” Tooru replied and looked down, “Sleepyhead.”

Iwaizumi groaned and was that a whine? No, Tooru couldn’t be sure about that one. Still, Iwa-chan was finally moving around. He got up from the bed at least. Free from Iwaizumi’s weight, Tooru started puttering around too and headed back into his own room to make sure he looked presentable.

He waited for Iwaizumi in the kitchen and pulled out their prepared dishes that they were to present to the women’s team. It was with trudging footsteps that Iwa-chan finally made his way towards Tooru, grumbling all the while, but allowed himself to be pushed out the door all the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, a chapter full of fluff. To be honest, a lot of it made me laugh in amusement at the images, which was I kept them. Well, hopefully you enjoyed it~


	6. Our Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school year might come to an end, but some things are only just beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at that, the final chapter. What a long journey this was...

Hajime helped to take down the various displays that were set up during the university's cultural festival the day before. Autumn had really set in upon Tsukuba. The lush foliage that surrounded the science city turned to vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow. Some of the students were outside tackling the fallen leaves for which Hajime did not envy. It looked as though it would rain, at least the way the clouds continued to darken signalled as such.

He could hear Oikawa down the hall, yammering away as he held a ladder while someone else took down the banners that lined the hallway.

Despite the downturn in the weather, Hajime was actually rather content. His university was selected to participate in the All Japan. Of course that meant practice had gotten intense once more; it did leave him with a sense fulfillment. With two big university events past it also meant that the coursework increased too. Still, he rather preferred keeping busy to being bored and complacent.

As it was someone else’s duty to pack up the remnants of the display, Hajime moved onto the next one once he finished dismantling it. He was now a little closer to where Oikawa stood. He could hear him a little more clearly now.

“You’ve left a bit of tissue paper up there,” Oikawa pointed up to just above his partner’s head.

“Why aren’t you on the ladder?” Hajime asked. “Aren’t you taller?”

Oikawa whipped his head around, a frown in place. His hand still held firmly onto the ladder. “I am a much better guide, Iwa-chan,” he said, matter-of-fact, then startled when a banner was dropped over his head. The sight forced Hajime into laughter. “Mean! You’re both mean!”

He whined for a good while, complaining even as he and his clean-up partner continued down the hall. Hajime was left to chuckle to himself. The image of Oikawa’s indignant face still flashed through his mind. He got lost in his duty like that, a soft smile in place until eventually he ended up against a difficult piece of plywood. It refused to detach itself from its compatriots. Hajime scowled as he pried at it, attempting to wheedle the hammer’s claw into a crease.

He finally achieved success but it came at the cost of a nose bleed. The plywood slammed directly into his face, forcing his eyes to water and his mouth to spew a string of profanities. His vision slightly blurred from the tears that instantly sprang from his eyes, Hajime could barely make out Oikawa who apparently ditched his job to be by his side. “Iwa-chan? Iwa-chan, are you okay?” You’re bleeding,” He cried out and shoved tissues at Hajime, almost going to stuff his nose himself. Hajime slapped his hands away. “Iwa-chan!”

“Tch, it’s just a nosbe bleed,” Hajime mumbled as he took the tissues to ram up his nose, “Calb down.”

His words did little to ease Oikawa however. He continued to fret and kept insisting that Hajime go to the campus hospital. “It’s fibe! Go back to work,” Hajime tried, but Oikawa refused to leave.

Finally Hajime relented and allowed Oikawa to fuss over him. He slid down the wall to take a seat on the floor. Oikawa crouched down in front of him, asking him a bunch of unnecessary questions but he indulged him all the same.

Oikawa had always been like that after all.

_A lot of the time, even if Hajime was the one to get hurt, it was Oikawa who often looked worse for wear. One of the first instances that this happened occurred when they were outside during the summer playing near a park located next to their neighbourhood._

_It was close to lunch time, so the two had been racing home. Oikawa took the lead, his sneakers better suited to the gravel that they came across than Hajime’s simple sandals. The latter tripped and skidded along the rocks, his one knee getting torn up significantly. Hajime stopped, grunting in pain as tears pricked at his eyes before Oikawa turned around at having heard the commotion._

_“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa cried out as he ran to crouch down in front of Hajime. He held out his arms, reaching out to hug him. “It’s okay, don’t cry,” He continued even as big fat tears spilled down his own face._

_“You’re the one who’s crying dummy,” Hajime replied, but allowed Oikawa to pull him into a hug despite the fact that it aggravated the scrape on his knee._

_“Don’t worry Iwa-chan. I’ll take care of you and make your knee all better! I promise,” Oikawa informed him, though his voice was muffled due to him burying his face into Hajime’s shoulder. “I’ll even carry you home, s-so you will definitely be okay,” He finished as he continued to clutch at Hajime’s shirt._

_“You’re getting my shoulder wet,” Hajime complained. He didn’t have a sleeve to protect his skin, thanks to him wearing only a tank-top._

_“Am not.” Oikawa sniffed, despite the evidence to the contrary. He pulled back, nose red and eyes puffy. “I told you not to wear flip flops to play outside,” he said, a frown firmly in place as he scolded Hajime._

_At that Hajime crossed his arms and huffed before he looked away petulantly. After a short beat, slightly more composed, Oikawa wiped his remaining tears on his own shirt. He held out a hand for Hajime to take. When he attempted to make good on his word at carry him however he was swatted away. “You don’t need to go that far!”_

_Still he insisted that Hajime allow him to support some of his weight as they continued their way back home. While it was more of a hindrance, he allowed it, if only so Oikawa would stop with the pained and worried expression he had plastered to his face. He also didn’t deny him the right to clean his wound and simply watched as Oikawa applied the bandage to his knee. When Oikawa kissed his knee however, Hajime turned bright red and hit him on the top of his head._

“Ah really... you say I’b the mom,” Hajime snickered to himself. Oikawa wrinkled his nose in confusion.

“Are you delusional Iwa-chan? I keep saying we should go to the hospital...”

Since several minutes had passed, Hajime finally withdrew the tissues from his nose. He made his way to the bathroom. Unsurprisingly, Oikawa followed after him. “Are you just avoiding cleaning up?” Hajime smirked and received a stuck out tongue for his quip.

After he washed his face, Hajime moved to stand in front of Oikawa who still wore a worried expression. “Hey,” he said and brushed his thumb lightly over his boyfriend’s cheek, “I’m okay, really. You can stop with that face now.”

Oikawa sighed, reaching up with his own hand to settle over Hajime’s. “I know. I do. It’s just... I don’t like seeing you hurt. Never have,” he said, still pouting a little.

“Yeah, well... but come on. This one was kinda funny, no? Totally self induced.” Hajime grinned.

“Silly Iwa-chan,” Oikawa said, attempting to fight a smile and failed miserably. “Always such a brute. What am I to do with you?” He finally chuckled before he pressed his lips quickly to Hajime’s forehead.

~0~

After the university’s cultural festival passed, the rest of November slipped by Tooru just as quickly. The team was back in Tokyo. They were there for the All Japan and the team was gnawing at the chance to do better than the tournament earlier in the year. They were about to step foot into Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Their first opponent was Waseda and as it drew nearer, an odd excited nervousness pulsed through Tooru.

Tsukuba was one of the first teams to warm-up for the first round, playing in the first time-slot. Honestly, Tooru couldn’t wait but Iwa-chan nudged him, making him focus on their speaking captain. He gave Iwaizumi a rueful smile before he turned completely to listen to Takanashi.

Once their pep talk finished, the team began their warm-up. Tooru’s focus began to sharpen in an instant, getting himself into game mode. The need to shut everything out over took him, from the crowds, to the other teams on the floor, the lights overhead and even the mindless yammering from some of his own team-mates. It all dropped away. Iwaizumi’s gaze sharpened as their eyes met and he received a determined nod from his boyfriend. In return, Tooru held up his hand to give a victory sign which earned him an eyeroll. But he spotted the hidden smile from Iwa-chan anyway.

As positions were taken, a whistle trilled throughout the stadium and just like that the game was under way.

It was by the skin of their teeth but Tsukuba claimed a win over Waseda. However they were next fated to meet up with Nippon, who according to their coaches, sailed through their first round match with ease.

The team took to the stands to watch the next matches, seated amongst a crowd of Chuo supporters. Tooru settled himself down beside Iwa-chan. He wasn’t interested in the matches that were directly in front of him, so he dozed off. He occasionally got jabbed in the side from Iwaizumi. “Tch, shouldn’t you be observing possible opponents?”

“Eh? But Iwa-chan, these guys will be knocked out by the bigger teams anyway... Why bother?” Tooru huffed and crossed his arms. “It’s better if I rest before the next match.”

Iwaizumi scowled at him and tried to wiggle away as Tooru used him as a pillow. Eventually he gave up and Tooru got to slip in and out of slumber until the need to relieve himself struck. He excused himself, careful not to stumble his way out of the seats until he was in the corridor searching for the restroom.

Once he finished in the restroom and was heading back to his team, humming to himself, a voice called out to him. Tooru’s face instantly pinched up into one of annoyance. Really, did he have to meet him here, even all the way in Tokyo?

“Oikawa?” Ushijima’s dulcet voice carried itself to reach Tooru’s ears. With great reluctance he turned around to face his long time rival. “So it is you. You have finally made it to the national stage, congratulations.”

Honestly. This guy had been the same from very beginning.

_“Eh?” After he spiked the ball successfully, Iwaizumi furrowed his brows. “Really? Nah, haven’t heard of him. Think he’ll be at the tournament then?”_

_Tooru tilted his head and tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Well, he’s bound to be right?”_

_Ushijima did appear at the tournament. However Tooru’s team did not get the chance to face the super ace’s at the time. They did get the opportunity to see him in action though. He was just as impressive as the rumours stated. Although he was the same age as Tooru and Iwaizumi, Ushijima already scaled high above them both._

_“His haircut is worse than yours,” Tooru commented._

_“Shut-up, stupid.” Iwaizumi pinched his friend in the arm and snickered when he whined aloud. “Bet his personality is worse than yours then.”_

_It was not until the next tournament that the two boys received their chance to face off against Ushijima. Their team suffered an embarrassing defeat and they learned just how far they had yet to go should they wish to continue with volleyball._

_Their rivalry with Ushijima had not truly begun until middle school, when the formidable wing spiker went to Shiratorizawa and Iwaizumi and Tooru chose Kitagawa-daichi. It was then that Tooru and Ushijima finally spoke. “You’re Oikawa Tooru,” Ushijima said after winning the first of many tournaments against Kitagawa._

_“I am. How interesting that you know who I am.”_

_“You’re a decent player. Why did you choose such an average team?” Ushijima asked with genuine curiosity, his hand still firmly wrapped around Tooru’s from their post-game handshake._

_Tooru was about to fire off a pithy retort but Iwa-chan was beside him and pulled him away. Instead all he could do was pull a face at Ushijima and from that point on, referred to the other boy as Ushiwaka-chan._

_There were other instances where Tooru was subjected to Ushijima’s staggering confidence. At times even Iwaizumi could barely contain his agitation towards the opposing player._

_Honestly, why was Ushiwaka surprised that Tooru had chosen Aoba Johsai as his high school over Shiratori? He may have regarded and respected his skills as a setter, but he completely discarded the efforts of his team-mates. That was simply unfair. How was a team to function without the others?_

“I did tell you to remember me,” Tooru replied, his nose in the air, haughty as he scrutinized Ushijima.

“That’s true,” Ushijima conceded. “I have to say, I was surprised when I did not find you at Tohaku.”

“Well, it’s not really that big of a contender in regards to volleyball is it? Even if it does excel in other athletic fields.”

“Hardly important since I am there now.”

“Geh! Well... see you haven’t lost that confidence of yours.” Tooru would like nothing more than to just turn away, to leave this conversation entirely. Why had he turned around anyway? He really ought to have just kept going. How is this guy still so sure of himself anyway? Last Tooru heard or rather witnessed, he lost to his junior’s team, like he warned him that he might.

“Oikawa!” Iwa-chan’s voice sent a jolt of relief through Tooru. “What the hell are you doing? We’re allowed to warm-up for our next match.” Iwaizumi came up beside him before he spotted Ushijima. “Oh.”

“Iwaizumi, you’re here too.” Ushijima inclined his head politely.

“That’s right,” Iwa-chan replied coolly. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, we have a game to win,” He said, wrapping his hand around Tooru’s wrist, tugging him away.

“He still really pisses me off,” Tooru said, tone bitter and spiteful.

“Maybe so, but he’s not the opponent right now,” Iwaizumi said and since it was the truth, Tooru nodded. He gave Iwa-chan a smile before he returned to his mode of determination.

Ushijima was a mere maybe problem, right now, their next hurdle was overcoming Nippon.

~0~

Hajime woke to a squirming weight pressed down against him. He opened one eye to find a mess of chestnut brown hair obscuring his vision. “Oikawa, quit moving,” He mumbled and attempted to shift away, but Oikawa followed after him.

“Iwa-chan, it’s cold,” Oikawa whined and buried his nose in the crook of Hajime’s neck. Its chilled tip jolted him. “See,” He crowed triumphantly.

“Well, it’s time to wake up anyway,” Hajime said, though he didn’t sound like he wanted to get out of bed either.

They were finishing up the last of their exams before their short winter recess. The All Japan finished and behind them, they quickly descended into studying. With the day being a holiday, they currently had a short reprieve from their tests. However it was with terrible luck that Christmas could not say the same.

They wanted to go up into Tokyo for the day, but due to the scheduling of their exams, they were unable to, much to Oikawa’s lamentation.

While they could have stayed in bed for longer thanks to the lack of urgency to get out of it, Hajime was aware that sleeping for too long would lead to trouble sleeping later in the night. So with great reluctance he pried Oikawa off of his body and pushed himself out of bed.

Oikawa gave him a pout before he buried his face into the pillows. Hajime chuckled and ruffled his already messy hair. “Why can’t we have a kotatsu?”

“Because we don’t have jobs... and can’t afford one,” Hajime answered. “Maybe next year.”

Now that they had seen what their university life was like, they could perhaps try for part time jobs in the following year.

Hajime set out to heat up some porridge and eventually Oikawa trundled out too, his feet dragging heavily against the carpet. He ate his breakfast with heaps of sugar, making Hajime wrinkle his nose.

They sifted through the rest of the morning by studying until eventually Hajime got up to putter around the kitchen. It was supposed to be his job to make dessert for their ‘Christmas’ date. They had decided to simply cook something a little extra on the day they have off, verses on the day itself. Although Hajime had received a text from Katsumi who asked if he and Oikawa would like to join her and Fumiko for a get together in town. Oikawa agreed to it, but they still intended to follow through with their dinner anyway.

Oikawa’s job was to make the main components of their meal. For his part, Hajime had chosen to attempt kasutera, with a sweetened cream to go along with it. As he began to crack the eggs into his mixing bowl, he heard his boyfriend humming from the table in the living area. A smile spread across his lips and he tapped his foot to the melody, continuing to work, losing himself to the activity.

_His first Christmas with Oikawa wasn’t particularly amazing or anything. In fact they even had class that day, though it was at least close to winter break, so their schoolwork hadn’t been too troublesome._

_The ground was covered in frost and they both pondered over whether there would be snow before the end of the year. While their friendship had only just begun to form properly during the last months of spring, volleyball bound them together even further. They spent the summer nearly inseparable from one another and had by this point learned a fair bit about each other._

_It was during art class when Hajime realised just how well Oikawa paid attention to him during their time together. Since it was the last class of the day, he was ready to bolt out of the building. He wasn’t very artistic thus art was hardly his favourite subject. Hajime was piling his books for his homework into his bag when suddenly he felt a tug at the edge of his shirt. He blinked and turned to look at Oikawa, who was looking oddly bashful. “Oikawa?”_

_Oikawa rocked on his feet, glancing around nervously before his voice finally broke out, “I made you something, Iwa-chan.”_

_“Hah? For me?” Hajime tilted his head, frowning a little, taken aback._

_Oikawa nodded his head. “Mm! For Christmas, since you’re my best friend in the whole world, you know!”_

_“Oh.” Hajime’s face went red. “Um, w-well what is it?”_

_Again Oikawa shuffled around awkwardly before he presented what he had hidden behind his back. It was a painting. The painting, while it was certainly tellable that it was done by a child’s hand, still made Hajime’s chest do an odd sort of flutter._

_Oikawa painted him Godzilla, who appeared to be breathing fire and was tearing down buildings. “Really? You did this for me?” Hajime asked, a lump forming in his throat._

_The other boy nodded, his own cheeks now red. “Of course Iwa-chan! I don’t care much for Zilla-chan after all!” At that he thrust the painting into Hajime’s hands._

_Hajime grinned, scuffing his shoe and admired his gift. “Hey, is that a ladybug in the corner?”_

_“It is! See what else you can find, Oikawa exclaimed excitedly and rushed to stand behind Hajime. He bounced on his feet while he watched Hajime scan the painting more thoroughly._

While his cake cooled, Hajime cleaned up his mess before he made another one to prepare the cream. It was now however that Oikawa had gotten up from his books. Just when he was about to pull out the ingredients for his next task, Oikawa’s arms settled around Hajime’s waist.

“Oikawa, I’m busy.”

He was ignored. Instead he was pulled away from the fridge. Oikawa tugged incessantly at him until he spun around. He was quick to give Hajime a quick peck. After Oikawa began to hum again, he slowly meandered their bodies around the kitchen in a makeshift dance. As they pressed closer together, Oikawa peppered even more kisses along Hajime’s face, making them both chuckle.

Hajime was unaware for how long they remained like that, lost in one another, but found that he really didn’t mind at all.

~0~

Tooru rested his head against the train window, watching as everything rushed by in a blur. Iwa-chan slept against his shoulder, having fallen asleep an hour ago. They were still a few hours away from arriving to Sendai station.

This was their first trip back home since they left in March. With a quick glance around, he made sure no one was looking before he kissed the top of Iwa-chan’s head.

“I saw that.” Takanashi’s voice came from behind him. He laughed at Tooru’s stricken face. “Saw you take all those pictures on your phone earlier too,” he smirked.

“W-well... Iwa-chan is just too cute,” Tooru mumbled, slightly petulant at having been caught.

“No worries,” Takanashi replied and returned to his seat just behind Tooru’s. “How did your exams go?”

“Eh, well I think I’ve done fairly well. You?”

Tooru began to chatter quietly with his former captain. Takanashi retired after the All Japan. He hadn’t asked how the man felt about Tsukuba reaching the semifinals and then being promptly knocked out once more by Chuo. Hopefully he held no regrets.

In the end Tsukuba hadn’t faced Tohaku, so Tooru was unable to wager whether the team was any good. He had chosen not to watch their matches unless the need arose.

Eventually Takanashi’s stop came and he waved goodbye to the couple. Iwaizumi finally awoke from his nap. They settled back into a comfortable silence, preferring to listen to the clattering and quiet mumblings for the time being. Iwaizumi’s hand did eventually find Tooru’s though, and he gave a firm squeeze in response.

_“Iwa-chan?” Tooru pried at Iwaizumi all through their bus ride to the ramen place after the loss to Karasuno. He was mostly quiet and unresponsive. Of course most of the team was that way. There had only been quiet murmurings here and there. In general, the mood was filled with dejection. Thankfully that changed after the third years had played together one last time back at their gym, their feet having taken them there absently._

_After Iwaizumi’s heartfelt words, and their fistbump full of promise, the weather started to turn for the worse. Rain had begun to pour and a cold wind accompanied it. They were forced to race back to their respective homes._

_Tooru decided to give Iwa-chan a bit of time to himself before he would head over to his house. He changed into different clothes and grabbed a quick snack to eat. Once he finished telling his parents the outcome of their game, he went to Iwaizumi’s. He had yet to reply to any of his texts._

_He received an apologetic smile from Iwa-chan’s mother before he headed toward his friend’s room. The door was closed, but not locked. When Tooru entered, he found that Iwaizumi had his face buried into his pillow. “Iwa-chan...”_

_Iwaizumi was always the same. He would start with a burst of emotions that he couldn’t contain, such as the tears that spilled earlier directly after their loss, before his resolve would seemingly pick back up. Tooru learned to look deeper than that over the years. Iwa-chan had the horrible habit of keeping the worst of his emotions to himself. He often locked himself in his room and shut everyone else out._

_Perhaps he had been too tired that he couldn’t be bothered to lock the door this time. Tooru settled himself down beside Iwaizumi, brushing his hand through his hair and sighed, unsure of what he should say._

_However, it seemed he did not need to say anything at all. Iwa-chan turned his head. His eyes were puffy, bloodshot and slightly vacant, but thankfully free of tears. “Hey,” he murmured, moving to allow Tooru a more comfortable lying position._

_Tooru issued out a tender smile, his fingers dancing for a fleeting moment across Iwaizumi’s face, forcing his eyelashes to flutter. “Hey, Iwa-chan.”_

It was with a gentle nudge that Tooru awoke from his impromptu nap. “Nn?”

“We’re nearly there,” Iwaizumi said, standing to pull out their luggage from the overhead. He ruffled Tooru’s hair, earning a frown from him. “It’ll get messed up from the wind anyway,” He laughed.

“Doesn’t mean you need to give it a head start,” Tooru pouted.

After their train came to a stop, they spotted their parents out amongst the packed station. They turned to each other and smiled before they stepped out together to meet them.

~0~

Hajime was on his way to a cafe to meet with Katsumi. It had been awhile since they last got to see each other in person. They no longer shared the same class and the hectic schedule he had prior to the end of the year kept them apart too.

Of course he was nearing the last of his exams for his first year of university. Still, with volleyball season over until he began his second year, he did have a bit of extra time to spare. He pulled down his scarf as he entered the cafe, doing a quick glance around before he detected his friend waving at him from a table in the back of the establishment.

After Hajime took his seat and removed his coat they descended into conversation near instantly.

“Terrible weather isn’t it?” Katsumi chuckled before taking a sip of her steaming drink. “Certainly sets the mood for our exams doesn’t it?”

“I’ll say,” Hajime answered with a grin. “Makes you think you’re doomed to fail that’s for sure.” He laughed and nodded his thanks when his drink was set down in front of him. “Though I guess it really is doomsday for you, huh? You’ll be heading into graduate classes come April after all.”

“How kind of you to remind me Iwaizumi.” Katsumi served him with a mock glare and attempted to kick him in the leg from under the table.

“Ah, sorry, sorry.” Hajime laughed, dodging the kick, all while holding his hands up in the air.

Really, if you told Hajime that his life would lead him here to Tsukuba, where he met new people, learned more about himself and fell in love with his best friend, all because he chose to spike Oikawa’s toss for the first time several springs ago, he’d have a hard time believing you. It seemed that it was the best choice he could have made for himself, particularly so when Oikawa and Fujiwara ended up entering the cafe to join him and Katsumi at the table.

~0~

Tooru flipped through his volleyball magazine, lying on his stomach and whistled to himself until Iwaizumi walked into the room. He couldn’t help but look up at him, his gaze following the strong lines along Iwa-chan’s back. Tooru was sorely tempted to make Iwaizumi late for his first day of his new job.

They were only a week into their spring recess before the start of their second year of university. However, Iwaizumi had kept good on his word to get a part time job. A kotatsu really was necessary after all.

He watched as the towel fell from Iwa-chan’s waist, biting at his lower lip at all the skin that’s being revealed to him. Tooru was definitely in dangerous territory, now on the verge of calling out to Iwaizumi, pulling him down into the bed, forcing him into needing another bath and maybe even making him find another job altogether.

“Shouldn’t you be reading your book or something?” Iwaizumi’s ears were red as he slipped on his underwear and finally turned around. Tooru responded with a cheeky grin, making a point to drag his eyes slowly up his boyfriend’s exposed body. “Tch, dumbass,” Iwa-chan grumbled before he began to unfortunately pile on the layers. Tooru rolled onto his back, holding out his arms and puckered his lips. “Really Oikawa?” Iwaizumi chuckled and leaned down, allowing himself to be embraced while he gave Tooru a farewell kiss.

It was with a whimper and swollen lips that Tooru finally let Iwa-chan go. He sighed and returned to his previous position, watching Iwaizumi exit the apartment who called out when he would be back. A moment passed before Tooru returned to reading his magazine.

Eventually he tired of the bed and headed towards the kitchen, his book still in hand. After he grabbed something to drink, Tooru sat down on a cushion. He splayed his magazine out on the table, absorbing the articles below and making interested noises here and there until something gave him pause.

“Well now,” his eyes lit up with a new determination, a smile tugging at his lips, “the national team will be looking for new members hmm?” A pathway formed in front of him, his future calling out to him and Tooru’s fingers twitched with the desire to reach out and grasp it. Perhaps Tsukuba really had been the best choice after all.

That and Iwa-chan.


End file.
